Saizo of Kiri
by Saizo K
Summary: This story has no reincarnation and no past memories. The OC becomes Zabuza's student through circumstance and the story flows from there. OC (Sort of SI but not really). Also, Fem-Haku.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Notes:**

This story is an OC (Sort of SI but not really). I really like OC SI stories, I find them fun and interesting. Though, I've found that a lot of the narrative is about preparing for the future because of past memories and conflicts about lying to people because of past memories. It can be very stale and in some cases can involve a convoluted plan to alter canon that gets too unbelievable and weird for me.

So my solution and alternative to that is this story. An OC with no past memories.

Minor variations from canon. For example, Juzo dies a lot earlier in this universe in order for Zabuza to start the story with Kubikiribocho.

I've already written the entire first arc of the story. I'll release it over the next few days. Subsequent arcs have already been planned out and I'm writing them now. Arc 1 will include quite a few time skips, as nothing that interesting happens and it's mostly just an introduction before we reach canon.

Thanks and please enjoy.

* * *

 **Chapter 1  
**

"Zabuza Sensei, where are we going?"

"A town on the outskirts of the Land of Water, the war hasn't spread there yet"

"And why are we going there?"

"Training"

"Why are we training?"

Zabuza Sensei turns his head slightly to look in my direction and glares down at me with his usual 'you're annoying, shut up' look.

…and now we get to walk in silence. I know better than to keep talking to Zabuza Sensei after he's given me that look. It took a while to figure out, but my training gets a lot tougher when I've annoyed him. He seems to use it as an excuse to beat me up…

He's a bit prickly, but he must care about me a little. Why else would he wonder around with an orphan like me? Not to mention, most of the time we spend together he's training me to be a ninja!

My earliest memory is being carried around by him. I'm not sure when it was, but it must have been when I was really little. There's no way he'd agree to carry me around now! I actually asked him once, a couple of years ago after a pretty brutal training session. He told me we were going to the Land of Fire on business, I complained about being tired and asked him to carry me. He eyes narrowed so much, I thought they were closed and then he did this thing where he had this purple fire raging around him, it was super scary! I thought he was going to kill me!

He said that I would never be a ninja if this was too much work and if that was the case he could just leave me to fend for myself. Over tears, I told him I'd be good from now on.

That's why I always do exactly what Zabuza Sensei tells me to. I'm not sure what would happen to me if he wasn't here after all… I haven't got anyone else and I can't really look after myself yet…

I'm still not entirely sure why he's so nice to me…. Well, his version of nice at least. I used to think he was my father, until I asked him a few months ago. He actually laughed in my face! That's the first time I'd ever seen him laugh. After laughing in my face for a good ten seconds, he calmed down and told me that he knew my father, but he was long dead.

…weird thing to laugh about in my face I thought but definitely didn't say. I think maybe he was friends with my father or something? Promised to look after me maybe? I don't really know, since he refused to go into more detail. That's why I know I'm an orphan, because if I had a mom, I'd probably be with her right?

Anyway, Zabuza Sensei has been teaching me to be a ninja! He told me he wouldn't be around to look after me forever and this world was kill or be killed. So, I've been learning taijutsu and kenjutsu. He's also been building up my stamina and teaching me how to read and write… which I can tell he barely has the patience for. However, he keeps doing it and I think I can read and write pretty well now.

"Let's rest here for the night" Zabuza Sensei suddenly says, stopping in his tracks.

He pulls out a basic camping setup from a storage scroll he keeps on him and looks at me.

"Trap the surrounding area. When you're done, I want you to do the basic set"

"Yes sensei" I say, as I dash off to set traps.

I've also been learning about traps and ninja tools. It was sort of just added on to the rest of the stuff as if it was obvious. 'Knowledge in all areas is vital for ninja', Zabuza Sensei likes to say. Basically, if you meet a guy who's really good at something you've never seen before, then you're in trouble. Even if I never master the use of traps, Zabuza Sensei wants me to get to a level where I can spot and counter enemy traps.

The traps that I've been taught to set aren't anything particularly complicated or deadly. I mostly just use wire strings and attach the end to an embedded kunai near camp, so if anyone does approach us and trip the wire, we'll be aware.

'A ninja is never safe', Zabuza Sensei always says. So we have to ensure our own safety. Sensei is a Missing-Nin after all and more than once, Hunter-Nin have come to try and claim his bounty. Though, none of them seemed to be even remotely a challenge for Zabuza Sensei, who cut them all down with his giant blade Kubikiribocho.

Setting up the traps doesn't take me long, I've done it over a hundred times. Zabuza Sensei doesn't even spare me a glance when I get back, but I notice his sword Kubikiribocho is embedded into the ground near an open area. I guess that's where I'm supposed to train.

The basic set is simple enough, first is a hundred sets of sword swings with the Kubikiribocho. Then a round of taijustu practice, I just go through the basic kata of the Kirigakure style Zabuza Sensei taught me and 100 sets of every basic punch and kick. Then finally, I do as many sword swings with the Kubikiribocho as I can until I can no longer lift it. It's a bit tiring, but like the traps, I'm used to it by now.

When I'm finally done I walk steadily to my sleeping bag, exhausted from my workout, but Zabuza Sensei stops me.

"Saizo, here" Zabuza calmly says and throws me a sheathed katana.

I look at him weirdly. What's this for?

It must have been pretty obvious what I was thinking based on my face because Zabuza Sensei smirks under his face mask… At least, I think he is, it's hard to tell…

"It's your fourth birthday today, that's a present"

I blinked several times. It is? He's never given me a present before.

My confusion must have still been showing on my face, because Zabuza Sensei continues.

"The fourth birthday is an important one for aspiring shinobi, it means that your chakra network has become stable enough to begin training"

"What's chakra?"

Zabuza Sensei starts but then thinks to himself for a bit.

"Chakra is… Chakra is another tool shinobi use to fight. It exists inside everyone, but shinobi train themselves in order to use it in battle"

"How do I use it?"

"Through hard work. From now on, in addition to other training, you will train your chakra before sleep"

"How though?"

"To start…" He picks a leaf up off the ground and opens it up to show me, the leaf starts to dance around his palm.

"…You will use your chakra to manipulate a leaf on your hand"

"How though?"

Zabuza Sensei sighs in his usual 'I barely have the patience for this' way.

"First grab a leaf…"

I pick up a leaf.

"…Now I want you to close your eyes and feel inside your stomach, that's the center point of your chakra pathway"

I close my eyes and concentrate. There's something there, it's feels like some sort of energy, streaming around inside of me.

"When you can feel it, concentrate on moving that energy up to your hand holding the leaf"

I do as instructed and the energy responds to my thoughts. The chakra moves up to my hand and then suddenly the energy materializes outside of my body and the leaf bounces off of my hand. I jolt and open my eyes with a start.

Zabuza Sensei is calmly looking at me.

…Did I mess up?

"Good, that reaction is a sign that you have a larger than average chakra pool. Your goal for this stage of training is to control your chakra so that the leaf moves around within your hand rather than flying away from it"

Zabuza Sensei turns around and goes to his own sleeping bag.

Guess I better get started then.

* * *

 **One Year Later**

My chakra control is improving a lot! Several months ago I was able to master control over the leaf within my palm, Zabuza Sensei then started me on learning how to stick leaves to various parts of my body. This way, he says, I can learn adequate movement of chakra to various parts of my body.

…But he still won't teach me any jutsu. Apparently, I don't have enough chakra yet. But he did say he would teach me one on my 6th birthday! So that's something.

Sometimes I watch Zabuza Sensei's personal training, and it's…Incredible. His sword, Kubikiribocho, which I have such a hard time swinging really simply is suddenly being used so fluidly. I'd think it must be a different sword entirely if I didn't feel the pressure come off of it every time it's swung.

The chakra that I'm struggling to use to hold a leaf to my forehead? It's being used to create water dragons. Every time I watch Sensei train, I realize how weak and far behind I really am. I was so proud when I got the leaf to dance on my palm…and yet everything I do feels so unimportant and small when compared to the water jutsu Sensei seems to do like it's nothing.

Though, I try to think positively. Obviously Sensei is a lot stronger than me, that's why he's a good Sensei! The stronger he is, the better training he can give me!

We don't seem to do much other than training. Zabuza Sensei takes us places on 'business', but his main business just seems to be talking to people… So he might be lying to me. Not that I'd ever question him on it.

The people in question never so much as glance at me and the rest of the time, we're always in remote areas training. One time, I saw some kids my age playing nearby where Zabuza Senbsei was doing 'business'. They were just running around with big smiles on their faces… It looked fun. Though Zabuza Sensei ordered me to follow him soon after his 'business' was completed and we were back to training.

All I can do is continue my training which Zabuza Sensei still seems to be committed to giving me even though I must seem so weak to someone like him. I still don't really understand, but until he decides I'm too annoying and leaves, I'll take as much advantage out of it as I can. He's also the only person who's ever really spoken to me before, life without him just seems so lonely… I need to be good so he'll stay.

To this end, I've begun waking up late at night to train some more secretly. I've found that after I use most of my chakra before bed, it seems to replenish after about 4 hours, so I make sure to get up and drain it again through training. I don't think Zabuza Sensei knows, or if he does, he hasn't said anything…though he never says much anyway. He probably does know, since he's Sensei after all, he probably hasn't said anything because he's happy for me to do it.

At least that's what I thought, because during tonight's training session…

"Saizo, what are you doing?" Zabuza Sensei's voice erupts from nearby.

My eyes are closed and I'm concentrating on sticking dozens of different leaves to different parts of my body. I barely avoid flinching and don't even open my eyes.

"Training"

"…It's Four in the morning"

"Perfect time to train"

A pause.

"…You will cease training at this hour, recovery is just as important as..." I interrupt him.

"I have recovered! My chakra had fully recovered!" I open my eyes and try to plead my case.

He frowns.

"You will listen to me when I tell you to do something" He glares back.

I flinch a bit under his glare. Why is he so against this? It doesn't make sense.

"Why! Isn't this what you want? I'm training! Getting stronger! That's what I'm supposed to do isn't it?!"

I try and remain calm when I'm speaking, but my voice is shaking and I can't look him in the eye. I'm defying him and it's really scary.

His frown deepens and my heart shrinks into my stomach.

"You are supposed to do as I tell you and nothing more"

I feel myself shrinking as he emits more pressure and my mind just cracks. I let out some mumblings aloud:

"But, why? I just… I…My chakra had recovered and I…"

I look down at the ground, tears beginning to form in my eyes.

Stop, stop, stop. You can't cry. Ninjas don't cry.

I wipe the tears out of my eyes and force myself to stop crying.

I hear Zabuza Sensei sigh from in front of me…He didn't see right?

"Go to sleep"

I look up at him, I don't understand what he's thinking. I thought I was doing a good thing?

A pause.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow" Zabuza Sensei says more gently.

I frown, but nod.

I don't understand.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 - Zabuza's POV**

As I walk down a quiet pathway away from the rebellion encampment, I wonder how the hell this happened.

I don't show emotions often. It's a matter of pride for a ninja. But in this case, a bewildered look runs across my face.

A baby in my arms, a giant sword on my back. How has the Demon of the Mist become a glorified babysitter?

I agreed to it, when I was told of the child's father, when the mother herself asked this of me, but somehow the full scope of this mission is just now hitting me. How the hell do I look after a baby anyway? I've got a sealing scroll full of milk and other supplies, but still…

If the other villages find out about this…

I look down at the baby, apparently name Saizo and he laughs at me, waving his hands about.

A small smile assaults my face.

A baby's power is certainly destructive, to destroy the pride of a ninja so easily.

Maybe I can do this.

* * *

 **Two Years Later**

I don't think I can do this.

Children are…difficult.

I'm not entirely sure what is considered normal child development, but Saizo certainly seems intelligent for a Two year old.

Beyond that, he's taken to ninja training very quickly. Part of the mission was to turn him into an able shinobi and I plan to do just that.

I graduated the kirigakure ninja academy at 9 years old, which was considered prodigal at the time. Though by the looks of it this boy may be able to beat me in this regard. I'm curious to see what his limits are, how far and how fast he'll grow.

I'm enjoying being a sensei to such a pupil, it's rewarding, I feel proud. Though he may try my patience sometimes, he's fundamentally still a child and such acts can be overlooked.

However, this…

"I'm too tired, carry me"

Saizo looks up at me with a disgruntled expression. Tired? We've barely even gotten started. I'm giving him a light training program currently as to not stunt his growth… Yet, he is tired?

This attitude must be squashed.

I let out a little bit of killing intent, not enough to make him pass out. But enough for him to immediately start to shake and cry.

"If this is too much work, then perhaps being a ninja isn't for you. We'll part ways here"

A shocked expression on Saizo's face and more tears and he almost yells.

"I'll be good! I'll be good! I promise! Don't go! Don't go!"

Looking at his shivering, crying form I realize I may have gone too far…

But maybe this is for the best, I'm supposed to be his Sensei not his friend. He is to support the rebellion and the future Kazekage and for that I must squeeze out all of his potential.

* * *

 **Three Years Later**

He is growing quickly.

Since that day, he's never offered one word of complaint and is completing all the training I'm giving him faster than anticipated.

He's particularly taken to kenjutsu. I've had him train with my own Kubikiribocho, a sword difficult to wield even by genin and chunin. He's not doing anything miraculous, but he is able to perform basic strikes with it.

If we were still in Kirigakure, he would have been placed in the seven swords training program and declared a genius based on his skill in kenjustu alone and his surprising basic skill with the Kubikiribocho isn't small either.

It makes me giddy as his sensei, to watch him train and think of the ninja he could become… As long as he doesn't end up like his father.

He actually asked me if _**I**_ was his father. I may have laughed a bit too hard at that. Knowing who his real parents were… It was just a laughable thought. I also had to tell a bit of a lie when I said his father was long dead. Technically true, if you tilt your head and squint your eyes but it was a necessary lie.

He looks so much like his father, it's hard to not think of him every time I look at Saizo. That might be responsible for my more…Brutal training sessions.

But it's up to me as his sensei to make sure he doesn't go down such a path.

I even gave him a sword as a present on his fourth birthday. The sword was my own first sword, gifted to me by my own Sensei after I graduated. A good man, part of the rebellion leadership and the man most responsible for the way I turned out. If it were not for him, I think I could have easily become a mindless killing machine.

He taught me that one is truly strong when he has others to protect. A strange notion for a boy who had just massacred his entire graduating class. No one had shown me such kindness before, especially after I graduated. But Sensei always smiled as if he could see the real me…And it inspired me to be better.

Needless to say, but that sword is very important to me. I didn't say as much to Saizo, but he should get the idea, I've never given him a present or celebrated his birthday before and I'm not one for words in the first place.

He's eager to learn and become strong like me, a decent enough motivator as I've shown him some of my stronger jutsu.

Based off the preliminary chakra exercises, he appears to have a larger than average amount of chakra and based on his training he appears to have a larger than average stamina. I suspect he may have Uzumaki heritage as his hair has a slight red tint…Though I can't say for sure. Something to ask his mother when I see her again.

Speaking of his mother, that woman had asked that I not reveal his parentage for the duration of the mission. I didn't ask why, but it was a bit obvious. That situation is particularly screwed up and avoiding the resulting headache from Saizo finding out is a blessing.

However, Saizo has been rather…troubling recently. Not in his usual annoying way. He's become much quieter and more withdrawn and he's also begun to 'sneak' off late at night to train by himself. I wouldn't mind such behavior if the physical and mental stress of the constant chakra use wasn't completely obvious. He's draining himself and I'm concerned that he may have nothing left to drain sooner or later.

I…am not sure what normal behavior for a child is. But I don't think this is a positive development. This isn't the third shinobi world war, he can grow up like a normal child… well as normal as one can get being the son of those two and my student.

I'll send a letter to my Sensei and see what he thinks. He's much better with children than I am.

* * *

 **One Week Later**

That was incredibly quick. A high speed ninja hawk used for delivering incredibly important messages shoots down towards me and lands on my outstretched arm.

I take the attached letter off it an begin to read.

' _Zabuza_

 _I realize that you're not a child raising expert…but I really did expect more from you.'_

My heart falls, so I was doing something wrong.

' _Rather than raising the child as a Sensei, you seem to be turning to child into a weapon. I want you to think back to the Kirigakure academy and how those in charge treated you. What they had turned you into before the time in which you fell under my care. You seem to be doing the same thing to this child.'_

My heart falls further. Have I really been?

' _You seem to be under the misconception that all you need to do is train the child to be a strong ninja and then your work is complete. But you forget that what I taught you more than any Justus or ninja skill is to think and feel. The things you discussed in your letter show that you too are seeing the signs that Saizo is becoming very much like you were at his age. This makes the problem easier, I want you to ask yourself what it is that you've learnt since then that's made you a better person? What do you value most? What do you wish you had at his age?'_

I fall deep into thought. I've been missing the most important things I've learnt from my lessons. I haven't imparted anything meaningful to Saizo like my Sensei did for me at nine years old.

I've been an instructor more than a Sensei, that changes now. I'm suddenly excited for the future.

' _I know you'll do right by the boy now, I trust you completely Zabuza. Though, I'll make sure to not share your letter with the boy's mother._

 _Regards,_

 _Byakura_

I shiver at the thought of Saizo's mother reading the letter I sent… Thank you Sensei.

Later that night I sense Saizo getting up to train again.

I wait for a while and then follow him to his training area.

There he is, sitting still in the forest clearing covered in leaves.

His chakra control has been improving excellently…though that's not what I came here for…

If you look closer, his eyes have heavy dark circles under them and his eyelids have a subtle twitch to them.

"Saizo, what are you doing?"

He doesn't even open his eyes.

"Training"

"…It's Four in the morning"

"Perfect time to train"

He still hasn't opened his eyes. This won't do, the signs of physical and mental fatigue are piling up.

"…You will cease training at this hour, recovery is just as important as..."He interrupts me.

"I have recovered! My chakra had fully recovered! **"**

He finally opens his eyes to acknowledge me. His fatigued eyes show confusion and belligerence.

I frown, he needs to listen to me in this. This could be very harmful if left to continue.

"You will listen to me when I tell you to do something"I say harshly, trying to push across my point.

I glare. He never disobeys me, why now of all times?

He flinches slightly under my gaze and looks at the ground frowning for a few moments. Before opening his mouth to speak.

"Why! Isn't this what you want? I'm training! Getting stronger! That's what I'm supposed to do isn't it?!"

His voice is shaking and he's no longer looking at me. He is very much like I was at his age, pursuing nothing but strength. But there is no need to destroy oneself for a small edge, not in this age. The war has ended.

I frown, recalling the events of the last shinobi world war. I will have to put my foot down here, we can discuss the future tomorrow. He needs to rest.

"You are supposed to do as I tell you and nothing more"

He starts to mumble, his mental exhaustion must be very high.

"But, why? I just… I…My chakra had recovered and I…"

He then begins to cry slightly. Before stopping himself forcefully and wiping the leftover tears from his eyes. It seems the pressures of his training are more than even I thought. I let out a sigh, tomorrow things will begin to change.

"Go to sleep" I try to say gently.

He looks up at me in confusion and clear emotional exhaustion.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow" I try to say even more gently.

He frowns and nods, still clearly confused.

But he needs to rest.

Tomorrow, things will start to change for him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

I wake up feeling a bit more refreshed than normal, but then remembered what happened last night.

I talked back to Zabuza Sensei.

He seemed mad too…

So stupid! I should have just agreed with whatever he said, even if I didn't understand.

Hopefully he doesn't just leave…

Wait, he's still here right?!

I gasp and sit straight up. He isn't in his sleeping bag. I feel myself start to panic before I hear a noise in the distance.

I get up and walk/run over and find Zabuza Sensei training with his sword Kubikiribocho.

I sigh in relief, before Zabuza Sensei stops training suddenly and looks over at me, I freeze up.

He walks over and puts his blade back onto his back where it sits most of the time.

"Are you well rested?"

…That wasn't what I was expecting.

"It's well past noon" Zabuza Sensei says, pointing towards the sun.

I look up…That's weird, I never sleep that long. I'm always very punctual for my training sessions.

"Your chakra may have recovered, but you were mentally exhausted. If you kept training at that pace, it was more likely to hurt you than it was to help."

So that's why he was so insistent last night, I nod.

Though it doesn't explain why he didn't just tell me that last night. I open my mouth to speak.

"I'm not good with words"

Sensei says, cutting me off.

"And I'm definitely not good with kids"

He continues, looking straight at me.

"But, I would like to tell you a bit about myself and my own Sensei. I think then you will understand me better and in turn what I expect from you"

I gulp, I'm not sure where he's planning on going with this, but with Zabuza Sensei, it's never good.

He sighs and begins.

"In Kirigakure, they used to have a tradition of sorts. In order to graduate, one had to kill a member of the same graduating class"

I nod, I had seen Zabuza Sensei kill several Hunter-Nin before. It's not nice, but it's something that 'must be done', as Sensei puts it.

Zabuza sensei frowns a bit and goes into greater detail.

"These were comrades that we had trained together with for years. Friends and acquaintances were now ordered to kill each other in order to graduate."

I frown a little. I'm not sure I understand entirely, since I've never had a friend, but it does seem a bit much.

Zabuza Sensei nods and continues.

"The year I graduated, they stopped that tradition"

"Why's that?"

"Because instead of one, I killed my entire graduating class"

My eyes open really wide.

"How many is that?"

Zabuza Sensei blinks and thinks to himself for a second.

"Around twenty-five"

My mouth hangs open. That's a lot… and he just finished telling me how close these people were to him.

"Don't misunderstand, I didn't consider a single one of them my friend or acquaintance. I was an orphan, much like you and as such I was taken in by the village itself and trained to be a weapon from a very young age…much like you"

"You're saying I need to kill people?"

He sighs again and thinks to himself.

"What I'm saying, is that the boy I was back then is not the same as the man before you now. Like you have me, I had a Sensei, a very kind man named Byakura."

He snorts.

"At the time, I wasn't sure why such a man was given to me as a Sensei. Kindness was weakness I thought. Until one night he protected me from a mob of villagers trying to kill me."

He grimaces.

"The parents of the kids I killed wanted me dead. Called me a demon. They were all ninja in their own right, mostly chunin, a few jonin. I wasn't their match, I was quickly injured before my Sensei stepped in. He beat them all soundly, without seriously injuring any of them and then turned to me with a smile on his face"

Zabuza Sensei looks really emotional…I've never seen him like this before.

"I couldn't believe it, that someone could be so kind to someone like me and also so strong. I asked him how he was so strong and he said that one is truly strong when they have someone important to protect."

He breaths out and looks at me deeply.

"I also asked why he protected someone like me. Someone that no one would miss and most would be happier if I was dead. He told me that…that being a Sensei isn't just a word, it's a bond. That I was important to him and he would miss me very much…"

Zabuza's eyes get a little watery. Though I'm sure if I pointed it out, he'd deny it and I'd ruin whatever this is…

He collects himself.

"And like him to me, I am your Sensei. You are…important to me. I won't throw you away casually. Our bond as Sensei and student is one for life…"

My mind slows down…this is more than I could have ever hoped for.

…This isn't like a test or something right?

He smirks under his facemask, reaches out and ruffles my hair.

"Like my Sensei to me, I want to impart lessons like this. I was too focused on making you stronger like I was with myself when I was your age. I'd forgotten that the most important lessons I'd learnt weren't related to physical strength."

He takes his hand away and looks at me seriously.

"One is truly strong when they have someone important to protect. This is the lesson I want to teach you today, what do you think it means?"

I'm still a bit awed my everything that just happened, but I think quickly.

"That having something to lose, makes people fight harder?"

Zabuza Sensei nods.

"You've mostly understood it yes. When someone has something that they hold with greater value than even their own life, they can draw upon greater strength."

I nod back.

"But it's not just that."

I tilt my head curiously.

"A person becomes more whole when they have something important to them. It's not just about drawing greater strength in the moment, it's about living your life with such a strength."

I frown.

"I'm not sure I understand…"

"Hmm…that's okay, it's a difficult concept. Basically, when you have friends and loved ones, you place a greater importance in your actions. You can't die, or they'll be sad. You can't do something, or they'll be upset. You must do something, or they'll be in danger. Your life becomes filled with purpose."

That sounds nice…I wish I had people in my life who could give my life purpose…

"You have me"

I look up at Sensei. Seemingly reading my mind.

"And I have you. We give each other purpose."

I smile. A warm smile. My chest feels all fluttery and my eyes feel hot.

"I see"

"Your training will continue as normal, though no more late-night sessions"

Sensei says, giving me a look.

"In addition, I want you to find more people who can give your life purpose. That should be your life's mission, because it's mine as well"

I walk up to Zabuza Sensei and give him a hug. He's quite tall, so my head only reaches his stomach and Zabuza Sensei just rest his hand on my head in return.

Purpose huh.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - One Year Later**

Today's finally the day!

Zabuza Sensei promised to teach me some jutsu today. Truthfully, I think I could have learnt some a bit earlier, but after that whole waking up in the middle of the night to train more thing, he's being a bit sensitive.

But I've stuck it out and here we are! I've got up nice and early, even before Sensei! And now I'm cooking breakfast ever so calmly, only taking a few glances towards Sensei every once in a while.

Zabuza Sensei gets up with a sigh after a few minutes and joins me for breakfast.

Ever so calmly, I finish my breakfast and wait for Sensei to finish his…

Zabuza Sensei stops mid bite and make eye contact with me.

"Saizo, don't worry, I know what today is. Let me eat first though, yea?"

"Of course, Sensei, or course!"

I smile brightly at Sensei and continue to stare at him.

Zabuza Sensei has a few more bites, looks up at me, sighs and then just downs the whole thing.

"Right, let's get started then."

"Yes!"

We make our way over to a clearing.

"Right, today we'll be learning the fundamentals of jutsu…"

I feel my smile sag a bit.

"…and then, I'll teach you a very important technique that I use all the time."

My smile returns bigger than ever!

Zabuza Sensei takes a small piece of paper out of his pocket and hands it to me.

"First, pour your chakra in this"

"Why?"

Zabuza Sensei has been far less aggressive about my questions since what he said a year ago.

Sensei sighs.

Though, he still very clearly gets annoyed by them…

"It will let us know what your chakra nature is."

I open my mouth to ask another question before Zabuza Sensei cuts me off, reading my mind again…

"Chakra nature is fundamentally how your chakra moves and reacts to different stimuli. My chakra nature is water…"

He says making an impressive bubble on his hand as tall as I am.

"…other natures include; fire, earth, lightning and wind. Not including Kekkai Genkai."

"What are…"

I start before being cut off.

"Kekkai Genaki are the combination of two or more chakra natures. For example, a clan in Kirigakure used to practice ice release, the combination of water and wind chakra natures."

"So, is it possible for me to have a Kekkai Genkai?"

Zabuza starts, then stops.

"N…Kekkai Genkai are based on bloodlines. That doesn't mean that some are impossible to train towards, it just makes it a lot more difficult. For example, the Yuki clan, the clan that had the Ice Release Kekkai Genkai were all able to use Ice Release intrinsically, it's the most natural way that their chakra forms. However, if one with both wind and water nature were to train, achieving an Ice Release is possible. However, there are some Kekkai Genaki like the Kaguya clan's Bone Release that would be impossible to learn through training as it is a fundamental way in which their bodies function…"

He stops to think.

"In other words, chakra is generally malleable. Even if you have a water nature like mine, you can still learn earth nature jutsu. The training just becomes more difficult. The same can be said for various kekkai Genaki techniques that rely on mixing chakra natures, the difficulty just increases even more."

"Then how do the Kaguya clan use Bone Release?"

Zabuza sighs then thinks for a bit, it must have been a difficult question.

"…I don't know. There are some techniques that are simply dependent on bloodline, as far as I can tell. The Uchiha's Sharingan, the Hyuuga's Byakugan and indeed the Kaguya's Bone Release."

Wow, Zabuza Sensei always knows everything! It must be really complicated if even he doesn't know.

"But enough questions. Pour your chakra into this."

Sensei says and once again thrust the piece of paper towards me.

"What's going to happen when I…"

"Just do it"

Zabuza Sensei sighs.

Right, I've reached the end of his patience, here we go!

I pour my chakra into the paper. It goes in surprisingly easily.

I look on in wonder as the paper suddenly becomes completely soaked.

"Right…"

Zabuza Sensei starts, but then then simultaneously, half the paper disintegrates into bits while the other half burns to ash.

"…Right…"

Zabuza Sensei seems speechless.

"What does that mean?"

"Triple natured chakra. Your chakra is; fire, water and earth natured. Though the way it soaked through first tells me that your chakra more easily converts into water nature."

"Does that mean I have a Kekkai Genkai?"

"…Maybe, if you do, it should come naturally to you during training, no need to rush."

'No need to rush' was Zabuza Sensei's catchphrase over the last year…

"So, what do I do now?"

"I had thought you might be water natured since you're fundamentally from the Land of Water and most ninja born here are. I just wanted to confirm before I teach you the Water Clone jutsu."

That's an awesome jutsu!

"How do I start!"

A grin from Sensei.

"First you learn how to do the simpler Clone Technique. An E ranked jutsu that academy brats learn. Then we build from there. I'll teach you the signs. Watch."

Ram, Snake, Tiger.

Got it! We've already been over hand signs extensively, so I get the principle.

The hand signs help guide your chakra in the right way to activate the technique.

Here we go!

'Ram, Snake, Tiger'!

A poof and a clone appears next to me, though he seems…ill.

I look to Zabuza Sensei.

"Too much chakra, try again. This time let the hand signs do all the work and don't try to force your chakra too much"

I nod and try again.

'Ram, Snake, Tiger'!

A perfectly healthy-looking clone appears next to me.

…That's it?

"Is it supposed to be this easy?"

Zabuza Sensei snorts.

"Not for kids your age Saizo, though my training has certainly helped."

Zabuza Sensei compliments himself.

"The reason I had you learn a jutsu that I knew would be easy for you is because a jutsu like the water clone can kill you if you pour too much chakra into it. It's different to an intangible clone like this, it doesn't simply follow your orders, it has intelligence."

I nod seriously.

"The sign for the water clone is just the Tiger sign"

Zabuza Sensei demonstrates the technique, then slices his clone in half to make a puddle.

"This is a C rank jutsu and because it only has one sign, more control is necessary. Picture the feeling of the basic clone jutsu and replicate it when activating the water clone. Limit the chakra to the same amount used before. This will make a weak clone for reference, but that's how to best practice."

'Tiger!' I try to move my chakra in the same way as before, but apparently got it wrong as nothing happens…

"Keep at it, this is a high rank technique for someone of your age Saizo. If you can learn it before seven years old then you'll beat me"

Well, that's all the motivation I need!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 - One Year Later**

It's been a really fun year!

I finally learnt the water clone jutsu after a few months of practice and Zabuza Sensei had me working on the henge, the more advanced hidden water jutsu, the substitution technique, the hidden mist jutsu that Sensei likes so much and the water bullet jutsu.

From the start Sensei said that he'll only be able to teach me water style jutsu, as fire and earth aren't his specialty. But I think water jutsu are pretty cool!

Nothing above a C rank technique though. I asked about the water dragon thing I've seen Sensei use and apparently that's a B rank technique that needs forty-four hand signs to use! It's a bit beyond my current level apparently.

But that's okay, Zabuza Sensei says that it's more important to have a few reliable jutsu than it is to have lots and lots of jutsu you never use. So, he wants me to just practice these ones for now rather than learning a bunch of other low rank water jutsu.

Zabuza Sensei says my level now is more than enough to graduate under any villages ninja training program, he even declared me a genin in skill level!

He seems a bit conflicted that I've reached this skill level at seven though, when he only reached it at nine. Apparently, he reached chunin at 11, jonin at 13 and anbu at 14, becoming one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen in the same year… So, I've still got a lot of work to do!

Though, he has said that if he ever dies, that his sword Kubikiribocho is rightfully mine as his student and successor. Though, I don't really want to inherit the sword if he has to die…

Anyway, other than jutsu, I've also been playing with the kids in the various towns we've been visiting! It's fun, but the game most kids play is ninja, so I feel a bit weird being an actual ninja.

I also never seem to see the same kid twice as well, since we're constantly on the move, which means making friends is a bit hard… I did actually ask Sensei what he was doing when we were visiting these towns. Apparently, he's gathering information for the rebellion and his Missing-Nin status is just a cover.

Speaking of which, Zabuza Sensei officially became an S rank Missing-Nin recently. He killed a pretty strong Hunter-Nin recently sent by the fourth Mizukage and they've increased his bounty. They seem to really want his sword, though he strangely seems happy about it...

It's understandable though, Zabuza Sensei says they only have one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen on their side; Fubuki, who has the Samehada. The rebellion has the Hiramekarei, though no swordsman for it, according to Sensei. The Kubikiribocho is with Sensei, who's officially a Missing-Nin and the Kiba are with an actual Missing-Nin, a nasty guy called Raiga apparently. The other three swords were lost during the third great ninja war.

Anyway, today we're visiting another town for information. Zabuza Sensei has sources all around the Land of Water and these people are helping the rebellion by tracking to movements of the Fourth Mizukage's ninja.

As we enter the town, I can tell that the atmosphere is different… There are very few people on the streets and the ones that are look gaunt and sheepish.

I turn to Zabuza Sensei, who simply motions me to proceed using the anbu sign language that we practiced.

Unlike normal, there are no kids playing in the street, no bustling market and nobody looks very happy. I've noticed that most out on the street actually don't seem to be going anywhere, some are just sleeping. Do they not have anywhere to go?

We reach Zabuza Sensei's contact, who seems better off comparatively. He explains that the town is seeing an influx of refugees from towns that were destroyed in the war. As a result, food supplies are low and crime is high.

Sensei also receives some information about the Mizukage's side's movements and we leave the building.

"Sensei…"

I start, wanting to ask about the conditions of the town.

But in sign language, I'm told to be silent until we leave.

I frown and nod.

I've really never seen anything like this. Sure, I've seen Zabuza Sensei kill people before, but the people in that town…they looked like they were slowly dying of hunger and disease. Besides, none of these people did anything wrong! The people Sensei kills are always trying to kill him for money!

The whole thing just makes me feel a bit weird. I just wish there was something we could do to help.

We cross a bridge on the way out of the village. Zabuza Sensei suddenly stops in the middle of the bridge in front of me and I almost bump into him.

I look at him strangely and then notice his gaze is fixed on a young girl around my age. Covered in a rag, looking underfed and dirty. I look between Sensei and the girl a few times and then sigh. Sensei really can't be honest with himself.

He's gotten a bit better with me, but he's not good with emotions. It's seen as an admirable quality in a ninja, but it's not like he doesn't have any at all. He just tends to bottle them up inside of him.

I think he wants to help her somehow…

I step forward.

"Hi there! I'm Saizo, this is my Sensei Zabuza. What's your name?"

The girl looks up at me surprised and blinks a few times.

"…Haku" She says quietly.

Now it's my turn to be surprised, even covered in dirt she's obviously very pretty…

"Hmm"

I cough into my hand and compose myself.

I look back at Zabuza Sensei, who's still just looking on not doing anything. He's still really hard to read. Am I doing the right thing?

"So Haku, what are you doing out here?"

Haku tilts her head.

"…I…I don't have anywhere else to go"

I frown.

"You're an orphan?"

Haku visibly flinches and looks at the ground.

"…Yes"

"That's okay, I am too"

I smile down at her, who's still sitting on the bridge hugging her legs.

She looks up at me, still confused.

"Why are you talking to me? Most people just ignore me…"

I blink and glance back at Zabuza Sensei who's still just standing there. So unhelpful…

"Well, you just looked…about my age and I thought you might need some help?"

It is pretty upsetting to see such a pretty girl around my age in this situation. This could have easily been me if Zabuza Sensei didn't pick me up.

She still looks confused.

"How old are you?" I ask.

"Seven" She says.

"Me too" I nod.

She nods back.

I blink.

I'm entirely unsure of how to continue and Zabuza Sensei is still being unhelpful even though he clearly has some intentions with her, since he stopped and all.

Maybe…

"Do you want to come with us?"

It's her turn to blink now.

"…With you? Why would you want someone like me?"

"Uhh, well I just thought that our roles could very easily be reversed if Sensei picked you up instead of me. I've thought like that too before, but now I'm a pretty strong ninja! So, yea. Do you want to?"

I've been glancing at Zabuza Sensei, but he's not offering any objection. Maybe this is right? I get a bit more confident.

"You're a ninja?"

"Yea! Sensei is a super strong S ranked ninja! And I'm around genin level."

I smile, she seems more nervous than before, then mumbles out a sentence.

"…So, if say I had this thing I can do with ice. Would that make you angry?"

I tilt my head.

"What do you mean?"

She puts her hand out and makes and forms a small diamond shaped thing out of ice.

"…Isn't that?!"

I look to Zabuza Sensei for confirmation and even he looks a bit shocked before collecting himself and nodding.

She flinches at my reaction and puts her hand away, trembling slightly.

I put my hands up to calm her down.

"Oh! No, I'm not angry or anything. Sensei's just told me about that before! It's a Kekkai Genkai right? The Ice Release of the Yuki clan."

She looks up slightly warily.

I smile at her.

"Sensei had told me that the Yuki clan were all gone, so I was just a bit surprised! That's really amazing that you can do that!"

"…Do you mean that?"

"Yea! It's something you can do that no one else can right? It makes you special!"

"Special…"

She repeats with a small smile.

"So" I repeat.

"You never answered my question, do you want to come with us?"

Her mouth gapes open a bit before she starts nodding vigorously.

"Yes! I would very much like to come with you! If it is alright with your Sensei?"

We both look to Zabuza Sensei who just nods quietly.

He's being a bit strange.

…Stranger than normal anyway.

I look back to Haku, who now has a really bright smile.

She's so pretty…

"Hmm"

I cough to collect myself again.

"First things first, we need to get you a bath… and some new clothes."

She looks down at her rag covered body embarrassingly and nods.

"I'd be most grateful."

Zabuza Sensei just started walking off without saying anything so I gestured for Haku to follow.

We walk side by side behind Sensei as we walk away from the town.

"Saizo-sama"

She suddenly starts.

"Do you have a purpose?"

I flinch a bit at the 'sama' but answer her anyway.

"A purpose? It's funny that you should say so. A couple of years ago Zabuza Sensei was teaching me about purpose."

Haku raised her eyebrows in question.

"He taught me that the people in your life that you care about give you purpose. He says that 'one is truly strong when they have someone to protect'. Basically, that one's life has more purpose when they have people that they care about"

Haku listens carefully. Eyebrows now frowning.

"Zabuza Sensei gave me a life mission, to find more people to give my life purpose. Currently the count is one, that person being Zabuza Sensei. But I hope one day I'll have a whole bunch of people to give me purpose!"

Haku listens somberly.

"That sounds nice."

"It could be your mission too!"

Haku looks at me with wide eyes.

She's really cute... I smile at her and continue.

"Zabuza Sensei said that it was his life's mission too! If you'd like it can be yours as well?"

She's definitely cute, but she seems…lost.

I think if I never met Zabuza Sensei I might be similar. If I had no one and nothing, I'd be a bit lost too. So I'll share some of Sensei's important teachings with her.

Though, she still hasn't said anything…

"If…if you want to that is…" I stutter out, suddenly unsure of myself.

She nods at the ground and turns to me.

"I will try my best to find this purpose"

I smile at her and she smiles back as we continue to follow Zabuza Sensei.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

So, it turns out I like girls.

Haku got cleaned up and we got her some clean clothes and yea…

She's ridiculously cute…

…

…

It's been about a week since we took her with us and Zabuza Sensei is still being strange.

I spoke to him privately about it, because I wasn't sure if I should have offered to take her with us.

Zabuza Sensei said that I made the right decision. That she is very possibly the last surviving member of the Yuki clan and her existence is an important one in terms of the new Kirigakure that the rebellion seeks.

Though, I'm positive he hasn't told her that…

I'm watching them train together now.

'If you're going to be following us around, then you need to make yourself useful' Zabuza Sensei had said to Haku in order to start her training.

She already had an idea of how to use her Kekkai Genkai, but no actual ninja training. So Zabuza Sensei is busy teaching her precise chakra control and basic taijutsu.

I'm not jealous, because I'm at a point in my training where I'm just trying to better use jutsu I already know. For example, I'm trying to alter my water bullet jutsu so I can change it's size and speed. So, I don't really need any input from Zabuza Sensei right now.

On the other hand, Haku needs all the help she can get. She seems to have a pretty good handle of her ice, but no knowledge of other areas of ninja combat.

"Not like that" Zabuza says.

He corrects Haku's taijutsu posture and nods.

"Like this. Your Kekkai Genkai maybe strong, but running out of chakra is a very real possibility, you need other skills in order to be a ninja"

"Yes Zabuza-sama"

I could see Zabuza Sensei flinch a bit at that.

The 'Sama' designation does make both Sensei and I a bit uncomfortable, but I haven't really had a chance to correct her. Plus, I'm not sure she'd agree…

Zabuza Sensei points over to me, from their training session.

"Saizo is the same age as you are" He says to Haku.

"Saizo! Please demonstrate your kata for Haku" He asks me.

"Yes Sensei" I say and move forward.

I smile at Haku, who returns a nod.

I demonstrate the kata and then bow towards Sensei who nods in return.

I regard Haku, who's looking at me with wide eyes.

"Incredible Saizo-sama" She says.

I shake my head.

"It's nothing amazing, I just have a lot more practice than you do. You'll be able to do them to sooner or later."

"So he says" Zabuza Sensei remarks.

Haku nods.

"I will certainly try my best"

And continues to practice.

I move my way back to where I was before and continue to practice my control over the water bullet jutsu.

Haku continues to practice her taijutsu with Zabuza Sensei's instruction.

"That's wrong"

"Do it again!"

"Not like that"

Zabuza Sensei continues to train her almost as sadistically as he did me, but to Haku's credit she took it all very well at kept trying her best.

This went on for several hours until she was covered in sweat and barely able to move.

"Hmm, I guess that will do for today"

Zabuza Sensei says dismissively.

"Yes Zabuza-sama" Haku responds.

"Hey Sensei, are you taking on Haku as a student too?" I ask innocently.

They both look at me. I expand.

"You're training her pretty seriously"

"I'm just making sure she'll be of use to me"

I smile. All these years, I think I can understand Zabuza Sensei a bit. He's a good guy, he just can't be honest, both with himself and other people. It gets worse around new people, like Haku…

So, I'm going to help him out a bit!

"If it's just that, couldn't we just find her some menial chores to do?"

His eyes squint in response, while Haku seems too exhausted to really think anything.

"She's of the Yuki clan, her talents lie in the ninja arts" He says aggressively, challenging me to disagree.

"Even so, training her from nothing isn't something you'd do if you weren't invested in her future as a ninja. Why not make it official?"

I see him frown and look towards Haku, who still seems a bit dazed.

"Hey Haku? What do you think? Would you like to officially be Zabuza Sensei's student?"

Haku blinks then looks at me.

"…If it's okay with Zabuza-sama"

I smile. So, she was listening.

I look at Zabuza Sensei, still smiling and raise my eyebrows.

He sighs, looks away and nods.

My smile grows.

What would he do without me.

* * *

 **Six Months Later**

Haku is…talented.

Talented enough that I'm nervous as her Senpai.

She's worked really hard over the last six months and Zabuza Sensei says that she should be at the genin level within the next year.

Which is crazy given she just started training.

What's more is that I've seen her go all out with her ice release and I can say with certainty that there's no way I'd beat her. The only reason she's not already at a genin level is because she isn't up to standard in anything else.

If it were just her ice release, Zabuza Sensei says she'd almost be at a jonin level…

Though of course, Sensei's probably not told her that.

Kekkai Genkai are unfair…

"Hey Haku, what does it feel like when you use your ice release?"

We're currently in the middle of our rest period, eating some lunch.

She rests a finger on her chin and looks up.

"I'm not sure I can explain it well. I was able to use ice release before I even knew what chakra was and how to use it"

"Try your best please. My chakra has three different natures, so Zabuza Sensei said I might have a Kekkai Genkai too!"

If I do have one, I really want to know about it. Using Haku as my model, Kekkai Genkai are super powerful!

"Well…it's like…It just feels correct."

I tilt my head.

She tilts her own head and continues.

"Like…like I'm just letting the chakra do what is wants to do rather than controlling it to do something"

Hmm, I'm not sure that works for me. Maybe because I have three chakra natures rather than two? When I feel the chakra out and let it do what it wants, it feels more like water chakra…

Maybe I just don't have a Kekkai Genkai?

"hah…" I sigh, that's most likely.

Kekkai Genkai are rare and the way Zabuza Sensei talks sometimes, it seems like he knew my parents. If I had one, it would reason that they would too, so he would know about it…

Haku looks at me concernedly.

"Saizo-Senpai…"

My heart does a…thing when she calls me that, but I maintain composure…I think.

"…Even if you don't have a Kekkai Genkai, you're still really strong!"

"Of course I am!" I smile at her.

"Your Kekkai Genkai is just really cool and strong, so I thought maybe I would be stronger if I had one too?" I continue.

She smiles back.

"You don't need one. Even without it, you're still much stronger than I"

I tilt my head at that.

"You think? I'm not sure. If we were to both seriously fight, I can't imagine being able to beat you with your ice release"

Her eyes widen a fraction, then she smiles wryly.

"Saizo-Senpai, you're really…"

Then she shakes her head.

"You will just have to trust me then. Zabuza Sensei has told me during training that you're likely to surpass him"

What!? Really? I don't feel like I've gotten much better recently though…

Haku takes my hand in hers and looks into my eyes.

I stiffen completely.

"You're much stronger than you give yourself credit for"

I nod. Looking back into her brown eyes.

I hope I'm not blushing…my face certainly feels hot.

"Hmm" I cough to recompose myself, taking my hand back and then regretting it immediately,

She had surprisingly soft hands…

"Thanks…but still, you know, if he says I'm going to surpass him, then you definitely will too"

She smiles at me.

"Then we'll surpass him together"

"Hah"

I hear from behind me and turn to see Zabuza Sensei standing there with a surprisingly amused expression given his general character.

"You brats still have a long way to go before you surpass me. I may look like this…"

He says…even though he looks incredibly scary.

"…but I'm still an S-class ninja"

"Then we'll be counting on your great guidance as an S-class ninja then, Sensei" I counter and also use it as an excuse to hold hands with Haku again…

* * *

 _ **Though just then**_ …

"How very heartwarming" A disgustingly slimy voice sounds out from the distance.

Zabuza Sensei looks shocked and then immediately turns, taking his sword out and readying into a battle stance.

Haku and I do the same behind him.

A man with white skin, purple marks around his eye and snake like eyes wearing a long cloak with pictures of red clouds on it looks at us.

"Don't you think so Itachi?"

The man next to him, apparently named Itachi is wearing a similar cloak. He wears a leaf headband with a line across it, marking him a Missing-Nin of Konaha. He looks to be in his teens. He doesn't respond.

"Orochimaru" Zabuza Sensei growls out

His killing intent begins to manifest as a large purple demon appears above him.

"Now, now Zabuza, we've simply come to talk, no need to get so agitated"

"What do you want?" Zabuza asks, killing intent not lowering at all.

"We wanted to ask you to join our organization, the Akatsuki" Orochimaru smiles disgustingly.

"Why would I?"

"As an S-class Missing-Nin, there are numerous dangers to your life and therefore…" He points to me and Haku.

"…Dangers to the lives of your precious students" Orochimaru licks his lips.

"Is that a threat?" Zabuza asks, killing intent rising.

The man named Itachi puts his hands up to stop Orochimaru and talks in his place.

"It was not. Zabuza Momochi, we offer you protection. Our organization is made up of 8 S-class Missing-Nin including Orochimaru and myself. Such a group cannot be touched in this shinobi world"

Zabuza laughs derisively.

"So what? You're just gathering together for safety? I don't believe you. I won't join an organization that I don't know the purpose of"

"How disappointing…" Orochimaru's voice slithers out.

A snake suddenly burst out from the ground in front of me and Haku, but behind Zabuza Sensei.

I react quick, drawing the katana I received from Sensei and sliced it in half as it attempted to ensnare us.

"Ohhh? It seems you have quite a fine student Zabuza" Orochimaru cackles.

"Orochimaru…" Itachi says tensely.

He sighs.

"We…" He stops and glances at Orochimaru.

"The Akatsuki truly has not come to threaten you or your students. I ask that you rethink your reply" Itachi says calmly.

"My reply remains the same, I will not join an organization with unknown motives. If you can tell me what the purpose of the Akatsuki is, I will rethink my reply" Zabuza Sensei says calmly, yet the purple demon above him still rage fiercely.

"I see…" Orochimaru drolls with a sickening smile.

Itachi puts his hand up in front of Orochimaru.

"We will confer your words to the leader of the Akatsuki and give you his reply at a later date" He turns and begins to walk away.

"Itachi…we should just beat him up a bit, maybe the kidnap the children…" His words pause as he makes eye contact with me.

"Oh?"

Zabuza Sensei stiffens, then moves to cover me from his sight.

"Orochimaru, we did not come here to make an enemy or antagonize a possible future member…"

Orochimaru ignores Itachi and continues.

"Zabuza…your student's eyes are a brilliant shade of pink…" I could hear the sneer in his voice.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

What does he mean by that?

Sure, I know that my eyes are a bit of a unique colour, but is it that important?

"We're done here" Zabuza Sensei says before launching a jutsu.

He goes through 18 hand signs in less than three seconds and activates his Great Waterfall Technique, an A-rank jutsu.

The giant spiral of water launches straight through where the two men stood, obscuring my vision completely.

Not obscured enough however, to not see the kilometer-high gate with a face on it being smashed into by the powerful jutsu.

After a few seconds, it ends, leaving behind a trail of devastation. The trees and ground have been torn up and thrown aside, yet the gate remains standing with a giant imprint in the middle.

The gate poofs away in a cloud of smoke to reveal the two men standing in the same place, looking completely fine.

"That was rather rude, don't you think Zabuza? I just wasn't aware that the fourth Mizukage had a son…" He licks his lips and smirks.

Itachi turns around to regard us once more.

"I see. The leader of the Akatsuki would want to know about this as well. We have dealings with the fourth Mizukage"

"You what?" Zabuza Sensei's voice lowers.

"The Akatsuki operate as a mercenary group. The fourth Mizukage has hired us on numerous occasions"

"You…" Zabuza Sensei is lost for words.

"My father is dead, you must have me mistaken for someone else" I voice out, not entirely convinced by my own words.

Orochimaru clearly recognizes something in me…

Zabuza Sensei glances at me in this moment and I can see his eyes are swimming in concern.

"Ah, child. You must have been misinformed…You're the spitting image of the fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi. Why, if I didn't know better, I would have thought you _were_ him…" His voice slithers out.

"That's…" I look to Zabuza Sensei who has his back to me and then back to Orochimaru with his sickening grin.

I'm not sure what to think…

"I guess, the question would be. Why does the Missing-Nin Zabuza have the son of the fourth Mizukage as a tag along…Perhaps he kidnapped you when he abandoned the village?"

I look at Zabuza Sensei's back in silent shock.

That can't possibly be true…can it? The man that's being teaching and raising me as long as I can remember, he couldn't possibly have kidnapped me…

Though…Orochimaru is missing part of the story. Zabuza Sensei is a member of the rebellion. The rebellion is fighting the fourth Mizukage...my possible father.

…Am I a hostage?

"Regardless of his parentage, I think we're done here. As I said Zabuza, I will relay your words to the Akatsuki's leader and will return to you with his reply" Itachi breaks in.

"…Fine" Sensei replies.

"Think on your situation child…there are few in this world you can truly trust" Orochimaru sneers.

The two Akatsuki then disappear in a flash of speed into the distance.

The pressure lowers noticeably, Zabuza Sensei lowers his killer intent and Haku collapses next to me.

"Haku! Are you alright? What happened?" I panic as she seems to be sweating and panting quite heavily.

"I…I'm fine. How are you okay? T…That was…" She trails off.

Zabuza Sensei cuts in.

"The killing intent given off by three S-class Shinobi isn't small. It's definitely enough to reduce someone to Haku's state when they've only trained for six months. Likely, she was completely unable to move at all during that encounter. Truthfully, anyone below jonin should be in a similar state…" He says, looking at me with a wry smirk.

"However, if there's one thing that I have confidence in, it's my killing intent. Most don't have a physical manifestation like my own. Saizo has been exposed to that killing intent since he was a baby, there shouldn't be a killing intent out there that would make him falter anymore"

I nod, satisfied that Haku would be okay.

Though, that just leads into the next most important thing on my mind.

"Was it true?" I ask.

I can't get what Orochimaru said out of my head.

Zabuza Sensei squints and sighs.

"…Yes"

My heart drops. Why would he lie to me for all these years? Why keep it from me?

Was I truly kidnapped? Am I a hostage?

I feel betrayed. The one person I trusted more than anything…

My chest hurts.

"Saizo"

Zabuza Sensei grabs my shoulders.

"The situation behind your parents is…complicated at best. Just know this. I was ordered by your mother to keep all of this a secret. She was the one who had you go with me when you were a baby"

My mother? She's alive too?

She ordered me sent away?

Why is Zabuza Sensei looking after me when both of my parents are alive?

Zabuza Sensei rubs his forehead.

"I know Saizo, it's…complicated. I'll let your mother explain it all to you directly, since I'm still under orders"

…orders

"She's a part of the rebellion?"

A wry smirk.

"Yes…"

And if my father is the fourth Mizukage…

It's starting to make some sense.

"Take me to her" Whatever the truth, I need to know.

"We'll leave immediately" Zabuza Sensei squeezes my shoulder.

"I may have kept this from you Saizo, but…you know that I'm still your Sensei right?"

I smile, getting his hidden meaning.

"Right"

Zabuza Sensei nods.

"…By the way, why did you agree to another meeting with those two Akatsuki?"

Zabuza Sensei grimaces.

"They were both stronger than me"

"What? Really?!"

Sensei nods.

"Yes, I would have definitely lost if I had to fight them"

"They were that strong?"

"Itachi Uchiha became a genin at six and slaughtered the entire Uchiha clan at the age of thirteen. That was only a few months ago. Orochimaru of the Sannin, one of the heroes of Konoha in the Third Shinobi World War, he almost became the fourth Hokage before he defected"

Wow, two really incredible people just showed up…

"Objectively…I don't think I'd beat either of them in a one on one fight, let alone both. The best option was to not agree to join them but not completely dismissively as to start a fight"

Up until now, I thought of Zabuza Sensei as the pinnacle, yet two ninja more powerful than him that I've never heard of come out of nowhere…

Even crazier than that, one of them was only thirteen!

…It feels like the road ahead of me just got longer…

* * *

 **One Month Later**

We've finally arrived.

The base of the rebellion.

For some reason, in my head I was picturing some sort of castle.

But of course the base doesn't look like that, these are ninja.

The base is actually a very normal looking village with kids playing and old women selling vegetables.

Yet…the kid around my age with the glasses seems to be glaring at me…

There seems to be some ninja mixed in…if they're not all ninja.

I eye the old woman selling cabbages suspiciously.

The glasses kid runs off and we continue deeper into the village, coming to a normal looking house near the middle of the village.

Zabuza Sensei walks to the door and goes through several hand signs before placing his hand on the door.

I hear a click and the door opens to reveal stairs, leading down into a dark cavern lit by torchlight.

"Now!" I hear yelled as several ninja jump out from the rooftop.

Several start to weave hand signs, while the other throw sharp objects in my direction.

An attack!

I weave my own hand signs and substitute a water clone in my place as various kunai, shuriken and water-based attacks pound my clone into a puddle.

I launch into my multiple water bullet jutsu, two for each attacker. One large one to draw their attention, and one smaller but sharper one hidden beneath it.

The water bullets launch and I manage to strike a couple of them, though most manage to dodge. They're clearly capable ninja.

Haku took a beat, but also begins to weave hand signs and shoots off a couple ice spike jutsu before Zabuza Sensei interrupts.

"Stop!"

The attacking ninja don't appear to listen as they begin to prepare another attack.

"You idiots! Stop it right now!"

A loud, angry voice shouts out, as a woman emerges from the cavern that Zabuza Sensei opened.

The attacking ninja pause to regard the woman.

"But the Mizukage is right there! We can end this war right now!" The young boy from before yells out in response.

"Chojuro! Look closer, his hair colour is completely different!" A man with an eyepatch behind the earlier woman yells in response.

They think I'm the Mizukage? Shouldn't he be a lot older than me if he's supposed to be my father?

"That's probably just a henge!" The boy, apparently named Chojuro, yells back in response.

"If he was going to disguise himself with a henge, why did he just change his hair colour!" The man yells back.

"…then who is he?" Chojuro replies, more timidly as he's clearly convinced, yet still confused.

The woman from before sighs.

"He's my son"


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

I look around and that news seems to be shocking to pretty much everyone.

Most of all me.

I don't know what I was expecting…but it wasn't this.

I look at the woman again, who's still glaring at the boy Chojuro.

She looks quite young…a long blue dress with one side cut open for…ninja activities? It's also quite low cut, so I can see her…

…

…

She has green eyes and long, spiky reddish-brown hair…the same colour as my own.

Other than that, there aren't really any striking resemblances.

I'm still eyeing her suspiciously when her gaze turns to meet mine.

She looks into my eyes wordlessly for a second. Opening her mouth to say something.

…But she closes it, saying nothing, then looks away.

"Let's take this to the meeting room"

I frown. That's it? Really?

I look to Zabuza Sensei, anger clearly visible on my face.

'Let's go' 'Hear her out first'

Zabuza Sensei stealthily signed to me.

I nod and look at my feet, following along silently.

I feel someone grab my hand and give it a squeeze.

I look up…it's Haku.

I smile at her, though my heart isn't quite in it.

"No matter what happens, I'll always be on your side" She smiles reassuringly.

My smile back feels a bit more genuine now.

"Thanks Haku" I squeeze her hand back.

* * *

 **Mei Terumi's POV**

So it finally happened.

I always knew that the day would come when I would see my son again.

But I didn't think it would be this soon...and I didn't think he would look so very much like his father.

After I finish yelling at the trainee Chojuro, I look at my son, Saizo Karatachi.

I feel his bright pink eyes bore through me and my emotions become so very complicated.

How I miss Yagura…

Looking at my son, I feel nothing but loss. Loss of my lover and partner and the loss of my son, who I'm now greeting as a stranger.

"Let's take this to the meeting room"

I say and turn away, not wanting to feel these things anymore.

"Take a breath, I know you weren't expecting to see him today. But to meet your son for the first time after so long is a happy occasion"

My advisor Byakura says quietly to me, so only I could hear.

I slowly breath out…

He's right of course.

I was young when I became pregnant with Yagura's baby, only sixteen.

But it was one of the happiest times of my life when I found out. Yagura was so excited.

We had named him Saizo after one of the legendary ninja who founded Kirigakure.

As I remember the past, we suddenly reach our destination.

"Byakura, Ao, Zabuza and Saizo stay. The rest of you out" I command.

"Haku stays too" My son voices out defiantly.

I turn to regard him for the second time, having sorted out my complicated emotions surrounding his father.

Haku seems to be the pretty young girl who came with Saizo and Zabuza.

Ara...Is Saizo as much of a lady's man as his father was? You have a tough road ahead of you Haku.

I smile genuinely, the darkness of the past that claimed my thoughts gone.

"Of course, would this young lady be your girlfriend perhaps?"

Saizo becomes red faced, mouth agape and the two quickly separate their previously entwined hands.

Haku looks even worse than Saizo as she takes on a shade of crimson and tries to fumble out some words.

"Of…of course not. Someone like me with Saizo…it's impossible…"

I can see Saizo's eyes twitch at that, but he recomposes himself and clears his throat.

"Hmm, anyway, so uh, you're my mother?"

He tries to change the subject awkwardly.

Ah, so innocent. I smile to myself.

"That's right. Zabuza sent a letter on ahead to explain what happened, you met with two members of the Akatsuki who knew your father"

Saizo takes on a much more serious face, uncharacteristic of a seven year old.

"We did. I was quite shocked, being told that not only is my father alive, he's the fourth Mizukage" He shakes his head and continues.

"When Zabuza Sensei told me that my mother was alive too and had ordered him to not just take me away, _but let me think I was an orphan_ …I felt even more…complicated…"

Indeed…it is a quite a lot. Some of this situation can be explained intelligently…but the rest…can only be explained by telling him some things about myself that I try not to think about…

But I suppose I owe him that much. Seeing him here today, I realize what a big mistake I made all those years ago.

I thought that I was casting aside my weakness and keeping him safe when I entrusted Saizo to Zabuza. But in truth…I was probably casting aside my own happiness.

As well as Saizo's…

"…I'm sorry…it wasn't my intention to hurt you"

Saizo's eyes wrinkle and he presses.

"Just what was your intention then?"

I breathe out a sigh.

"Your father and I are the same age, we grew up together. We've known each other since we were both very small. We went to the academy together, graduated together, we were even on our first ninja team together…perhaps it was only natural that we also fell in love"

Saizo appears confused by the difference between his question and my answer, but appears too interested in the story that I'm telling to call me out on it.

"We were both young, ignorant, a little reckless and when we were both sixteen I became pregnant" I smile at Saizo.

He flinches a bit and his eyes soften.

"At first, we were both a bit surprised and scared by this, but that was quickly replaced by excitement. Yagura couldn't stop talking about the ninja techniques he was going to teach you" I chuckle to myself, my eyes becoming slightly moist.

"Looking back, those were the happiest days of my life. Everything was just so filled with love and Yagura had just become Mizukage. I was so excited for the future…" My eyes threaten to start spilling tears.

I breathe in to recompose myself.

"But shortly after he became Mizukage, Yagura undertook a mission… There was a mercenary group operating within the borders of the Land of Water made up of S-class Missing-Nin"

Saizo's eyes widen and I nod.

"Right, the group was called the Akatsuki. They were seriously undermining the village and stealing too many of the village's clients. The village's revenues were starting to look dire, so when we heard of a sighting, Yagura set out with a team. I wanted to go as well but…I was pregnant and Yagura wouldn't hear of it, so he left to deal with the Akatsuki with a small elite team he had handpicked…"

I look at the floor.

I remember that day so vividly. The last words we shared were harsh, because he had refused to take me along with him and I was mad, but he remained steadfast. Reminded me how sad we would both be if I lost the pregnancy and made sure to kiss me before he left…

I gulped, knowing firsthand what happened next in the story.

"He returned alone…yet Yagura never returned"

Saizo's face scrunches up in confusion.

I shake my head.

"Physically he returned, but he wasn't the same…I…he was completely different, as if it was a different person inside of his body. He just felt hollow… like all emotion had left him and he was much harsher, more tyrannical"

My face now scrunches up.

"He didn't waste time setting up a policy to exterminate users of Kekkai Genkai within the territory. There was already a lot of discrimination after the Third Shinobi World War towards these people as harbingers of death…so it wasn't hard to tilt this to outright slaughter. Entire clans, massacred by village policy" I shiver.

Saizo looks slightly horrified.

"As far as I'm concerned, Yagura is dead. I don't know what inhabits his body now, but it's not him and it must be stopped. When I first came to this realization, I began to plan a rebellion"

"We're still in the process of fighting for the Kirigakure that we want. A village where people aren't killed just because they're born with powers they had no choice over…"

Saizo looks over at the girl Haku with emotion in his eyes, the girl in question looks at the ground, eyes swimming in contemplation.

Does she perhaps have a Kekkai Genkai of some sort?

"When the rebellion had just got underway…I gave birth to you Saizo…I wanted you to be safe from all of this. Having your parents on opposite sides of a civil war cannot be pleasant…I could also die at any time in my position…I wished to spare you from this" I frown, considering and contemplating my next words.

"…Though, in truth perhaps I was scared to have you around here" I look at my son in shame.

"To have mine and Yagura's child with me while I fought him in war felt too painful…"

"I was also quite obsessive during this time, barely even sleeping to devote my efforts to this war…I would not have made a good mother…I…though that might just be another excuse…"

I frown in pain, thinking on what to next say to the son I have abandoned for all these years…

"I understand" I suddenly hear from the boy in front of me.

I look on him with bewilderment.

"..It wasn't easy for me…" He looks sad and gulps.

"But, it clearly wasn't very easy for you either…" He smiles wryly at me.

"If you think we can help…" Saizo says, taking Haku's hand.

"Then, we'd like to involve ourselves in this war"

My mind blank from shock, I try to consider what Saizo said…

…

No matter how I think about it, sending my seven year old son out to war doesn't seem to be something I'm willing to do.

"You're only seven, wait until you're a fully-fledged ninja, then I can have you help our rebellion" I smile at him.

It's a compromise. If I was him, I certainly wouldn't want to listen to me, so if I give him a compromise, it should distract him sufficiently for the next several years while I try to finish this war and keep my son safe from it.

I nod to myself, I may have been absent for the first seven years, but I might make a good mother yet!

Saizo just smiles back at me and nods then looks towards Zabuza.

Odd, I thought he'd certainly have a little more adverse a reaction. Kids are often very reckless, I certainly was when I was his age.

Then I looked at Zabuza, who looked more grim than usual.

And then I suddenly remembered just who the Saizo's parents were and just who I had training him…

"…He's already at a Genin level"

Zabuza says and confirms what I feared…

"He was using water jutsu to fend off Chojuro and five other low chunin level ninja before we arrived…" My eye patched advisor Ao notes, no doubt having confirmed it with his Byakugan.

"So where will I be deployed?" Saizo asks innocently.

…Being a mother might be more difficult than I imagined…


	9. Chapter 9

**Authors Notes:**

Thanks for the favourites, follows and reviews! They make me smile :)

Get ready for a training chapter! I know these can be a bit boring, but Saizo needs to train sometimes! A lot of training is likely to get skipped over and summarized later though.

* * *

 **Chapter 9 – Saizo's POV**

I feel…surprisingly content.

I certainly didn't think I'd feel like this when I was travelling over here, but like Zabuza Sensei said, after I had a chance to speak to my mother I feel like I understand her a lot better. She's…been through a lot too…

Plus I kind of really wanted to forgive her too…I wouldn't want to be on bad terms with my mother after all that's happened.

Although, Mei….my mother had said that I could join the war when I was a fully-fledged ninja, when she found out I was already a fully-fledged ninja, she made me agree to train with her first so that she could gauge my skill level and so that we could spend some time together. Which sounded nice, so I could only agree.

Haku's not a genin level ninja yet though according to Zabuza Sensei, so they went off to train together, leaving me with my mother.

I am a bit worried about Haku, even though she rejected me earlier when my mother was asking about us…

…

But with her entire clan being destroyed because of this village policy made by my own father…I feel somewhat responsible.

Hopefully when we both finish with our respective training, she won't be mad at me.

Anyway, I really am grateful to be able to spend some time training with my mother like this. She is leading an entire rebellion, so I imagine she's actually quite busy.

We've both left the village and found a nearby clearing next to a river to train.

"First, let's see what your current level is. Let's spar a bit using only taijustsu, then we'll switch to kenjutsu, then ninjutsu. Start!"

It was very sudden and I was half expecting her to blur behind mine and get a chop to the back of my neck, but I guess that wouldn't let her see my current level, so instead it looks like she's lowering her speed to match a typical genin's.

I charge towards her already charging form, surprising her a little and putting her on the back foot as I send a side kick towards her waist. She dodges to my right side and sends a punch towards my right side, that I brush off with my own right hand before attempting to sweep her with a low kick.

She jumps over my low kick, grabs the arm that I was using to block before pulling me towards her and headbutting me in the face.

I fall back as she lets go, but jump up again ready for round 2, but instead she just smiles at me.

"That's enough of taijutsu; I can see what your level is. You mainly use kicks, probably due to training under a swordsman and you're still quite orthodox in your movements as you haven't trained for long enough"

I frown, but nod at the assessment. I do tend to favour kicks because I usually have a sword in my hands when I spar with Zabuza Sensei. I also tend to stick to the basic kata I was taught, especially when I'm under a lot of pressure.

"Now kenjutsu" she says, a water sword forming from her mouth.

"Begin!"

We started a lot closer together this time, so I lead with a sideways slash that she blocks with ease.

I use the rebound of the swords to switch into a diagonal slash. The quickness of the transition has my mother quickly try to angle her sword again to block, completely disregarding the lower body which I launch a side kick into as my sword strikes her own.

She flies backwards a few meters, before back flipping into a ready stance.

"When I said kenjutsu, I mean _just_ kenjutsu" She says with a vein appearing on her forehead.

"Ah" I said.

"Doesn't that make it a bit unrealistic though?" I ask with an innocent smile.

Another vein bulges out from my mother's forehead, followed by a smile…but the smiles seems colder than normal.

"Have it your way then…" She says ominously.

I then have to use my instincts to their max as her water sword suddenly appears right above my head. I hit the sword away and retreat back.

But she on me immediately, she's too fast. Every time I block and regroup, she's on me with another slash or stab with her water sword.

Then, before I can even consciously make the decision, I swing the sword around to block a strike to the back of my head. I glance back and see that my mother had made a clone to strike me from behind while I was distracted by the version of her in front.

Both versions smile at me and then the one behind me dispels into a puff of smoke.

"Well, there isn't really anything you can gain from me in kenjutsu, your skill level is already very high, that last block especially. Zabuza will have to be the one to continue to train you in this. Honestly, if we had one of the Seven Swords lying around, I'd have you start training with it." She says with an approving gaze.

"Don't you? Zabuza Sensei said that the rebellion had Hiramekarei" I say, trying to somehow convince her to give me a super powerful and famous sword.

"Unfortunately, we've already begun to train someone with this sword and he isn't any less talented than you when I comes to kenjutsu" She says with a grin.

I pout in mock sadness.

But I really did want that sword…

"Lastly ninjutsu, this is probably the area I can help you the most. Has Zabuza tested your natures?"

I nod.

"Fire, earth and water. Though Zabuza Sensei has only been able to teach me water jutsu"

"The same as me then" My mother looks at me with eyes filled with affection.

"Really?" I reply.

"Well, not exactly. I also have two Kekkai Genkai" She says, tilting her chin up looking proud of herself.

"What?! Really?!"

She flinches at my over enthusiastic response before nodding.

"That's right. Lava release, the combination of fire and earth natures"

She goes through hand signs slowly so I can see them.

'Dog, Boar, Tiger, Ox, Rat, Bird'

A plume of lava shoots from her mouth onto a nearby tree. I watch as the tree melts entirely, leaving a large pillar of smoke in its place.

My mouth gapes open at the ridiculous power of the technique.

My mother smiles at my reaction, wiping some lava from the corner of her mouth.

Scary…

"And the boil release, the combination of fire and water natures"

This time she just uses the horse seal as a plume of fog shoots out of her mouth towards another poor defenseless nearby tree.

I watch again as the tree melts, leaving nothing but a smoking pile of what used to be a tree.

It seems her Kekkai Genkai, even if she has more than one, both involve melting things…

But they were still really cool!

"Can you teach me how to do that?!" I ask, still incredibly enthusiastic.

I mean, can anybody blame me? Kekkai Genkai! And two of them!

I'm going to be so strong!

"Probably" She smiles.

"Probably?" I ask, getting slightly dampened by the uncertainty.

"Well, our family's Kekkai Genkai only goes back a few generations. We're not like the Yuki clan that your girlfriend belongs to; their ice release goes back before the founding of the village itself. The Kekkai Genkai I'm going to teach you won't be completely instinctual, though it should be much easier to learn than someone who just has the individual natures"

"She…she's not my girlfriend…" I say, getting distracted.

"Ara? Suuurrre, whatever you say…" She says with a grin.

…I don't think she's being very sincere…

"Firstly though, you need to be able to use earth and fire jutsu before you can start learning lava and boil release"

I nod.

"It's more difficult than you might think; you have the change the very nature of the chakra you're using. Its feeling will be completely different that the water nature you're used to. It's made a lot easier for you because your chakra has a natural inclination to want to change to fire and earth nature"

She takes out a piece of paper.

"I want you to use manipulate your chakra into fire nature and use it to burn this piece of paper"

I tilt my head a little.

"I've already done this though? When I was initially testing my chakra natures with Zabuza"

"That was chakra absorbing paper, it would burn no matter what you did. This however, is normal paper" She says, flopping it up and down.

"It requires a conscious elemental change to turn burn this. That's the first step of training a chakra nature"

I squint a bit.

"I didn't do this for my water nature transformation though? Zabuza just taught me the water clone jutsu straight away"

Now my mother tilts her head.

"That's…inefficient, it's two steps at once. That would have taken you quite a long time to do, you would have to grasp the nature change and shape it at the same time… Though I suppose training it this way also helps you perceive both steps as one, which would make your casting quicker…"

She puts a finger to her chin and thinks about it.

"Alright, forget the paper" She says burning it herself.

…But it sounded like that way was easier?

"We'll start you off with a basic fire jutsu instead, the great fireball technique, a C rank jutsu"

I nod twice eagerly. This does sound more fun.

She shows me the hand seals.

'Tiger, Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger'

Her cheeks expand before giving way to a great ball of fire that she chooses to launch at a nearby boulder this time, sparing the innocent trees.

She gestures to me to give it a go, so I try the technique myself.

'Tiger, Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger'

I feel the chakra build in my stomach as I run through the hand signs. I consciously move it to my throat as I try to grasp the feeling of the chakra.

As Zabuza Sensei has said previously, let the hand signs do the work. I've learnt that the Tiger hand sign is often used as the ending to fire nature based techniques. I think it must have something to do with the nature change, as the chakra feels strangely hot.

Water nature chakra feels much more calm and cool than this, like a stream. This feels more like a fire; hot, erratic and powerful.

The chakra leaves my throat and a small flame escapes my lips…it quickly dissipates…

…My mother is smiling at me like I'm adorable and I can feel my face getting red in embarrassment.

"More chakra next time" She says placing a hand on my head and messing up my hair.

"Other than that, the nature change came easily to you, as it should as your natural chakra affinity. Though, perhaps this sort of nature change is easier to you because of all that time you spent learning the water clone jutsu without first learning conscious nature change. It's become second nature to you"

She ruffles my hair lovingly.

"My little genius"

An idiotic smile appears on my face as I enjoy my first bit of parental love.

"Alright, next jutsu is earth style"


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 – One year later**

Training was always going to take a long time. After all I was learning two new chakra nature changes and two Kekkai Genkai.

Though, when I started, I didn't think it was going to take a whole year…

My mother was there to help whenever I needed it, but she also had a rebellion to lead, so I had to train by myself quite a lot.

It was difficult.

Changing to fire natured chakra was easy at first, but the thing about leaving everything to hand signs, is that you become incredibly inefficient. You end up using way too much chakra for each technique.

Once I realized this, I had to start learning how to do everything the hand signs were doing manually. I got the great fireball technique down to one seal, the Tiger seal.

The Tiger seal really helps the nature change to fire, without it, the technique fails.

I'd learnt to use the water clone so well originally because it only involved the one hand seal. I had to figure out how to do everything manually from the start, otherwise the technique wouldn't activate at all. I also had the help of the basic clone technique, which allowed me to see the steps I needed to go through to create a clone.

The fire jutsu I've learnt are the great fireball technique and the phoenix flame technique, which shoots multiple small fireballs instead of the one big one. I didn't proceed to learn any more than this, as I had sufficient control and skill over the fire release.

Next was the earth release, which I actually found a lot harder to grasp that the fire and water release. The chakra felt strangely stagnant and lifeless, so I had a hard time moving and controlling it. Water and fire chakra had life to it and I commanded it to move as if was a being obeying my orders. Earth chakra was different, I had to will it to move, rather than tell it to move.

Once I got over that hurdle, the jutsu I was taught was the earth wall technique. Seemingly very simple, but it was anything but, it was a B-rank technique, the highest rank technique I had tried to learn.

I had thought it was as simple as spitting out earth into a wall shape, which took me a few weeks to do, but it was nothing particularly hard. However, it was supposed to have a layer of chakra covering the earth that was crucial to its defensive powers. Without the chakra covering, it was incredibly flimsy.

That part took me a lot longer, but I eventually grasped the chakra control necessary to use the jutsu correctly. Once I'd figured that out, the applications were unlimited. I could theoretically spit out the earth into any shape and cover it in chakra coating. A spike, a fist, a boulder; it was very versatile.

That finally brought me to the stage where I could begin to grasp the Kekkai Genkai.

My mother spent a month tutoring me on it every single day before I could start sort of mixing the chakra natures. It just…it makes no sense!

Earth chakra is stagnant and lifeless, fire chakra is erratic and full of life. Mixing the two into one singular chakra makes no sense…if I didn't have the assistance of a bloodline, I have no doubt that I would have never completed this. I could feel something filling the gaps as I worked, it made absolutely no sense, yet somehow when I just stopped thinking and let the earth and fire chakra weave together, it made perfect sense.

Hooray for bloodlines!

Zabuza Sensei said before that theoretically you could learn a Kekkai Genkai that mixed chakra natures if you trained hard enough, but I can tell why that was just theoretically now and why every ninja doesn't try and learn one.

I'm still very inefficient though. It's probably due to my low understanding, but using just one lava release technique uses about two thirds of my chakra. Boil release is about the same. I've only learnt the one technique for both, the ones that my mother showed me before. She says there would be no point in learning more than that since I've only just barely grasped the two she's already taught me.

I'm still far from being able to use a bunch of awesome Kekkai Genkai jutsu in a row like Haku can…

Speaking of which, according to Zabuza Sensei, she's now officially a genin level ninja! She's improved a lot in her taijutsu and speed and she is much more adept with her ice release! Zabuza Sensei was complaining he was becoming jaded from teaching students more talented than him, but I can tell he was happy.

Which leads us to now:

"Team Zabuza, for your first mission, we've located the Missing-Nin Raiga Kurosuki, holder of the Kiba blades. Your mission will be to find him and claim his swords back for the rebellion by any means necessary"

Yes! A mission! A really cool one too! We get to fight a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen!

My mother continues her explanation.

"The Seven Ninja Swordsmen hold great power in Kirigakure, not just because of their physical power, but because of their namesake. Their influence, bar the Mizukage themselves is the greatest in the village and throughout the elemental nations. We've just received news that Fuguki of the Samehada blade has been killed by Kisame Hoshigaki and his blade also claimed by him"

Zabuza Sensei raises his eyebrows.

"Kisame stole it?!"

My mother nods seriously in response.

"Our spies have confirmed it"

"Do you know him?" I ask.

Zabuza Sensei nods.

"He's…unstable and strong. A dangerous combination"

My mother cuts in.

"He's fled Kirigakure and become a Missing-Nin" She says with a Smile.

"WHAT?! That makes no sense, Kisame is unstable and dangerous, but he's a loyal dog of the Mizukage"

My mother shakes her head.

"We don't know, but we do know that this is confirmed intel. As of now, the Kirigakure village has zero members of the seven swords in their ranks. We have two and your mission is to make that three. If you can accomplish this mission, public opinion may turn in our favour and the tide of the war may turn"

The three of us nod seriously.

"Good luck, the intel on Raiga is in these documents"

And with that we leave the meeting room…

But not before my mother sneaks up from behind me and hugs me from behind.

The back of my head is pressed into her…

…

…

"Be careful" She says quietly.

I smile and nod, which just serves to rub the back of my head against her…

…

…

She turns me around and smothers me into her chest.

She releases me as soon as I think I might run out of air and kisses me on the forehead, sending me off with a wave and a smile.

My face feels hot…

* * *

 **Two Weeks Later**

Haku is looking at a map, eyes frowning in deep concentration.

"I think we're almost there" She nods as if to agree with herself.

"You think? Are you sure you don't want me to check for you?" I tease.

"No. I am more than capable of fulfilling this role" She nods to herself again.

"Are you sure? We won't end up somewhere weird like last time?" I grin at her and her face scrunches up.

Haku was smart and serious to a fault sometimes. She also had a deep desire to be helpful, but she sometimes refused to admit when she wasn't good at something.

For whatever reason, map reading was one of those things. We'd gotten hopelessly lost once when Haku insisted on leaving the map reading to her. Since then Zabuza Sensei has always had a back-up map and stealthily led us in the right direction.

"Should be just past these trees and left at the canyon, right Haku?" Zabuza Sensei asks.

Haku's eyes widen and she examines the map with intense seriousness.

"…Yes, as I said, we are almost there" Haku nods to herself.

I smile. She really is cute.

On the journey, I had the time to go over the profile the rebellion had on Raiga Kurosuki. It was…less than pleasant. He had a habit of burying people alive because he enjoyed funerals so much and also murdering lots of people without any particular reason.

An insane, sadistic murderer…though from the old generation of Kirigakure, that's incredibly common. It's much rarer to find kind and well-adjusted ninja from Kirigakure.

We finally find our way to the small town that Raiga was spotted in by the rebellion informant. He apparently has tanned skin and long dark green hair, though Zabuza Sensei can recognize him on site, so we shouldn't have a problem spotting him.

The weather was very cloudy and it looked as if it could rain any second. We need to find him before visibility becomes an issue, hopefully he's still here.

"Hold it" Zabuza Sensei says as we turn a corner, his eyesight looking towards a man in a dark hooded cloak walking out of the town.

That must be him.

We follow him from a distance as he leads us further and further outside the town. Then he suddenly stops.

"Here's fine" He says turning to face us.

Ah, so he knew we were there the entire time. He is one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen after all…

Zabuza grunts.

"Raiga, you look as ugly as ever"

"Hah! You dog of the rebellion, _you_ _insult me?!"_

Zabuza Sensei stiffens as his official status is still technically a Missing-Nin.

"How on earth can you claim to be a member of the seven swords, when you're this weak kneed? Who's the new master that you bow to, you dog?"

I feel the pressure rise as Zabuza Sensei activates his killing intent and it manifests into the familiar purple demon. Which is scary, yet strangely comforting after all this time.

"Why was it that you brought us so far out of the village Raiga? You were never one to care who got caught up in the crossfire before. Is there someone there that you actually care about?" I see Raiga stiffen as Zabuza Sensei clearly gets it right.

"Perhaps we'll pay them a visit after this…with your head separated from your body" Zabuza Sensei says harshly and readies his sword in his hands.

…Are all ninja fights normally this chatty?

It suddenly begins to rain as I finish that thought, I can also hear rumbling from the clouds, a sign of impending lightning.

We all frown as we remember the intel on the Kiba blades. They can absorb lightning and become much stronger.

"You haven't changed at all Zabuza" Raiga spits, holding his blades to the sky.

Haku and I prepare to launch ninjutsu. We're waiting on Zabuza Sensei's signal.

"I'm going to enjoy killing you" Raiga grins as lightning strikes the Kiba blades.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

His blades take on a light blue glow as he holds them up.

Zabuza Sensei gives us the signal to attack.

Haku and I waste no time as we launch our jutsu; a phoenix flame jutsu from me and multiple ice spikes from Haku.

They're completely eradicated by the blinding light Raiga launches from his Kiba blades.

I use an earth wall jutsu to no merit as it gets cut through like it was made of paper and not chakra reinforced earth.

"Forget using earth jutsu, they're weak to lightning release techniques"

Zabuza Sensei says slicing the lightning strike with his blade.

"Support me from the rear, I'm charging in"

And he takes off at full sprint in the direction of Raiga. He casts a water clone jutsu for safety, so if he gets hit, he can substitute in time to save himself.

Haku and I look towards each other and nod. She forms a large barrage of ice senbon behind her and starts shooting them at Raiga from different angles. A more controlled version of her ice spikes that she trained in order to target enemies more precisely.

I cast the phoenix flame jutsu and water bullet jutsu in turns in order to make Raiga's defense even a little harder.

Raiga doesn't take all this lying down. He himself takes on a light blue glow as he uses his own lightning chakra to reinforce his blades. Using them to launch energy strikes towards Haku and I while swinging at Zabuza Sensei, who's already gotten in close.

There's enough space between us that dodging isn't a huge issue, however the strikes eradicate our ranged jutsu. A few of Haku's manage to sneak by due to their small size and large amount, but nothing substantial enough to offer any kind of real threat.

Zabuza Sensei on the other hand appears to be the better of the two at kenjutsu, as Raiga appears to be being pushed back. When their blades clash, the Kubikiribocho seems to be coming out worse though, getting heavily chipped.

They suddenly separate and start to weave hand signs. Zabuza Sensei uses the Great Waterfall Technique and Raiga appears to summon a giant lightning strike from the clouds.

Zabuza Sensei is able to substitute with his water clone to dodge the lightning strike, while Raiga becomes completely obscured by the giant spinning mass of water.

After a few seconds the mass of water splits in two and crashes tremendously into the surrounding landscape.

Raiga emerges, bruised and breathing heavily, his right arm hanging down uselessly at his side.

The Kiba blades have now formed into one singular staff shaped sword with blades at both ends. It's dyed in a bright blue cloak with sparks flying off of it.

Raiga's face contorts when he sees Zabuza Sensei, realizing that he's clearly come off a lot worse from their exchange.

He face lowers and he stabs one side of his sword staff into the ground.

"This will not be allowed Zabuza! You dog! Don't think I'm beaten yet!"

The clouds above us start to rumble loudly and I can tell he's winding up for a big attack. I move in close to Haku and grab her hand, using the other to form the one handed tiger seal.

"Hidden mist jutsu" I say as I expel a large amount of mist from my mouth, encasing everything in a thick fog.

"Stay close" I say to Haku.

"…Yes" She agrees.

"You think I can't see past such a technique?!" Raiga yells furiously.

But I know he can't. We read his file, he's not a sensor type.

He's still a former anbu and highly skilled ninja, but the only information he has right now is where we were before the mist jutsu was used. His nose isn't sharp enough to read our movements, but his ears should be.

Therefore, I use the one-handed Tiger sign to activate the multiple water clone jutsu. Ten clones in total manifest, using up a fair amount of my chakra in the process. I send them in pairs in different directions. I walk with Haku in a different direction.

The odds should be in our favour…

I hear a rumble of thunder as two of my clones poof away. I smile in relief before two more disappear, then two more, then two more. The rumbling from the thunder hasn't stopped yet…

"Haku! Defense!"

She doesn't waste words and quickly forms her ice into a dome above us.

I cancel my hidden mist jutsu, realizing it pointless if he can continually fire off lightning strikes like that…

"There you are, you rats!" He yells maniacally and casts another lightning strike.

It strikes the ice dome, which holds but begins to crumble. Haku's face scrunches up and she holds her last hand sign in order to reinforce the dome with her chakra.

I place a hand on Haku's shoulder and look up as the ice dome becomes more and more cracked from the pressure. I substitute the both of us with the last two water clones I had left. The ice dome finally caves in and the two clones are destroyed by a large column of falling lightning

…I feel like I'm slightly out of my depth here.

I fall to one knee as that thought crosses my brain. I've used far too much chakra. Mostly for a plan that didn't even almost work and attacks that did no damage.

"Saizo!" Haku says with alarm when I drop down. She comes to my side, helping me up with one arm around me.

"I'm alright, just low on chakra" I smile emptily.

Why did I think this would be easy? He's on the same level as Zabuza Sensei…

Speaking of which…

I look up and see Raiga being slashed in half by a giant sword.

Zabuza Sensei is really amazing…

"Aaarrghhh!" The scream from Raiga knocked me out of my reflection.

I see Zabuza Sensei say a few words to Raiga and Raiga says a few words back, coughing out blood and lying on the ground in two pieces.

I can't hear what they were saying, but in this next moment Raiga yells out.

"Lightning! Conduct my funeral!"

He looks into the sky with a mad grin on his face as a giant lightning strike encompasses him, completely obscuring his body from view.

Zabuza Sensei smartly retreated to our position to avoid the suicidal attack.

"Good work Saizo. Good work Haku" He says looking at each of us in turns.

I squint my eyes and look at him, lightning still striking the definitely dead body of Raiga.

"Really?" I asked.

"I didn't really do much…"

Haku and Zabuza Sensei both look at me.

"I wasn't expecting you to be able fight him on equal terms Saizo…your job was to provide a distraction. Which you did well enough that he took his attention away from me long enough to kill him. You fulfilled your role perfectly" Zabuza nods at me in approval.

It certainly didn't feel like that…nothing I did worked at all.

"You are too hard on yourself as always Saizo. The mission was a perfect success. Raiga Kurosuki is dead, none of us are injured and we have recovered the Kiba blades" Haku adds, pointing towards the Kiba blades lying on the ground where Raiga's body used to be.

I nod, a bit unconvinced, but it's true that the mission was a success. I can worry about getting stronger when we get back to the rebellion base.

We go over and pick up the blades, still radiating a bit of lightning chakra.

Zabuza Sensei hands them to me.

"They'll be under your care until we get back to the rebellion base. You should practice with them while you can"

I look at him with my head tilted.

He smirks.

"What? Where you planning on handing them over to the rebellion and then forgetting about them? Practice with them in the time you have and convince your mother to let you keep using them"

My eyes widen when I realize what he's suggesting.

"Is that fine?" I ask.

"Normally no"

…Zabuza Sensei really doesn't hold back.

"But not only are you the son of the rebellion leader, you're the student of another member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. You might have the greatest qualifications out of anyone in the rebellion for ownership of this sword. However, there's a war going on, you need to display enough proficiency with the blades to be entrusted with them"

He hands the blades over to me.

"So, practice. We'll take the long way back"

…and he walks away.

"You could become a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen just like Zabuza Sensei!" Haku looks at me excitedly.

I nod and looks down at the blades in my hands. They're oddly shaped, both sides are bladed unlike the katana I already own and they have a spike of sorts on each side; one high and one low, like a rose stem.

This is a good chance, I need to work hard.

* * *

 **One Week Later**

The conclusion? They're normal swords…

Sharper than my katana and with an interesting design, but without lightning chakra like Raiga had, I'm completely unable to bring out the sword's full potential.

I've been attempting to train the lightning chakra nature change under Zabuza Sensei's suggestion…but it's hard…

I now realize how much help having an affinity is when using that chakra nature change. The chakra just…doesn't want to be the way I'm telling it to be.

Lightning chakra is supposed to feel sharp and static. I can hold that feeling for a moment, but not long enough to actually use it. I think I'd need several months of training in order to properly master it, maybe even a year.

Which is a problem…as Zabuza Sensei said, we're in a war and if someone can use these swords better than I can, then the Kiba blades will go to them. Which even I have to admit is completely undeniable at this point. Anybody who can use lightning release is a better fit for these swords than I am.

This leads me to the other way to enhance the swords. Zabuza Sensei pointed out that Raiga didn't just enhance the blades with his own chakra, he used chakra from an actual lightning strike to empower the swords.

Which…didn't make a lot of sense to me…

How does an actual bolt of lightning have chakra? Wasn't that just a jutsu Raiga used?

Zabuza Sensei says no, it was an actual bolt of lightning. The chakra felt different he said…

So now I'm sitting here meditating, trying to feel for any leftover lightning chakra in the blades to try and solve this puzzle in the next two to three weeks when we'll arrive back at the rebellion base.

…

…

…

Nothing…

I know something's there! So why can't I sense anything!

Okay, let's think…

…

If actual lightning has lightning chakra, does actual water have water chakra? Does actual fire have fire chakra? Does the actual earth have earth chakra?

I look at the ground and then a nearby pond. Worth a try I guess.

I walk over and sit in the middle of the pond and meditate.

What am I looking for? I'm looking for something that feels like chakra but it's a bit different…

Hmm…

* * *

 **One Week Later**

Hmm…

OH! What's that?

It feels like chakra, but it isn't…like the essence of the water itself.

I walk back on land and meditate on the earth. I feel something similar, like chakra, but not chakra. The essence of the earth.

Hmm…

I take the Kiba swords into my hands. They've been harnessed to my back this entire time.

I feel into the blades for a similar feeling…

…

…

…It's faint, but I think there's something there…

The chakra feels like lightning chakra, but again it's slightly different.

The swords are circulating this chakra naturally, like a person's chakra system. Yet, none of it is leaked, the chakra is maintained fully as if it belongs within the swords.

I can also feel the swords are being empowered by the chakra. Only slightly due to the small amount, but enough for the swords to become sharper than normal.

What's the next step then…this much won't win me the swords.

If I can get more of the chakra into these swords…that might be enough.

But in order to do that, I need to wait for a thunder storm.

* * *

 **One Week Later**

We're only a few days away from arriving back at the base now and I was beginning to get nervous.

But finally!

I grin at the dark clouds and the rumbling in the distance.

"Is this safe?" Haku asks concernedly from beside me. She insisted on helping when I told her and Zabuza Sensei what my plan was.

"…Maybe?" I respond and look over at her.

She frowns.

"If it isn't safe, then you should stop this at once"

"This is the only chance I have of becoming one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen like Zabuza Sensei! If I can do this, then it should be enough"

She continues to frown to express her disapproval.

I sigh.

"I'll just leave the swords in the ground like a lightning rod. That should be a lot safer. Okay?" I smile at her.

She squints and nods slowly.

I place the swords in the ground and then look on in the distance with Haku, watching several lightning bolts strike the swords over the course of a few hours.

At first the swords had a bright blue glow, but after a few hours, the glow died down completely and I picked up the swords with Haku watching on nervously.

Woah!

I drop the swords in shock at the powerful feeling they were giving off.

"Saizo!" Haku yells worriedly and runs over to my side.

I smile at her.

"I'm alright Haku. I was just surprised" I pick the swords back up under Haku's watchful glare.

Unlike the weak feeling from earlier, the Kiba swords are now radiating the unusual lightning chakra. However, like before the chakra is contained and circulating like a person's chakra system would. It's just far more powerful…

If I can just use this...

With that feeling, I swing the sword and a massive amount of the chakra radiates out in a giant slash of energy. It slashes through the trees in its way, going much further than I thought it would and completely destroying the small forest.

The chakra in the swords fell by almost half, but that was incredible.

I might just be able to keep these swords after all.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

We enter the rebellion base, looking for my mother to give our successful mission report.

Instead we find an old man talking to that guy Chojuro, who attacked me before.

I haven't seen him since then, though I was pretty caught up in my training, so it's possible we just didn't run into each other.

"Byakura Sensei" Zabuza Sensei next to me says towards the old man.

He turns and shows us a wide smile.

"Zabuza! How was the mission?"

"We completed it without injury" Zabuza Sensei says calmly.

"Oh? You have the Kiba blades?"

Zabuza Sensei gestures towards me and I take the swords off of my back.

I channel the chakra in the swords to circulate faster, giving them a faint blue glow.

…I just wanted to show off a bit. Byakura is an advisor to my mother, so he would probably have a say on who the swords go to.

"Hm?" The old man's eyebrows raise and he looks at me with an appraising look.

"I wasn't aware that you could use lightning chakra Saizo"

I smile at him mischievously.

"I can't"

He eyes me strangely.

"Is my Mother around?" I ask.

"She's in the meeting room" Byakura responds.

I nod and begin to walk away with Haku and Zabuza Sensei in tow.

"Ah!" I hear Chojuro yell out from behind me. I turn around to look at him, he looks away bashfully and begins to stammer.

"Um, well, Saizo…I just wanted to apologize, for, um, the stuff from before…"

He seems a lot shyer now than when he was trying to kill me before.

I narrow my eyes at him suspiciously…

His eyes twitch under my gaze and he tries to explain himself nervously, hands now clenched into fists by his side.

"You see…I was angry at you because of your father…and um, your mother, she told me that you hadn't even met him before…also since I respect her so much…and your father and mother were uh…"

…I look at Haku, who looks back at me looking equally confused by what Chojuro was trying to say.

He shakes his head to collect himself.

"My anger was misplaced, I'm really sorry I attacked you" He bows formally.

He doesn't seem like such a bad guy, just a bit weird.

"That's okay, I've already gotten over it" I smile at him

"Ah!" He looks up at me and looks very moved.

"Thank you very much! I hope we can work together in the future!" He smiles, revealing a set of spiked teeth similar to Zabuza Sensei.

I nod at him and walk once more towards the meeting room.

When we get there, my mother is having a heated conversation with the advisor with an eyepatch. I think his name was Ao.

"I swear it! His chakra system was strange, it was cloudy, as if it was being manipulated through genjutsu" Ao says firmly.

"A genjutsu that can last more than eight years?! Have you ever heard of such a thing?!" My mother yells back, apparently distraught.

"It could be a Kekkai Genkai. A dojutsu of some kind…" Ao starts to respond before he notices our presence and my mother cuts him off with a smile on her face. Completely uncharacteristic of her frown from just a few seconds earlier.

…Women are scary.

"Are we interrupting something important?" I ask hesitantly.

My mother sighs and puts her head in her hand.

"It's just…" She looks at Ao, who just nods solemnly.

She sighs again before continuing.

"Ao just returned from a mission to spy on the enemy base. He happened to see Yagura…your father and he thinks he's being manipulated by a genjutsu. While this would certainly explain his sudden shift in personality, we don't know of any genjutsu powerful enough to do something on this scale" She looks towards Ao.

Ao nods in return and continues from where he left off.

"As I was saying, a Kekkai Genkai or dojutsu proficient at genjutsu could be responsible"

"But that's still just a theory. We have no way to confirm that there is a genjutsu and even if we did, we don't have a way to undo it" My mother responds, shaking her head.

"I'm almost one hundred percent certain that he's under some sort of very powerful genjutsu. Everything I saw was consistent with that. The only other thing it could be is something with the Three Tails that I don't understand"

"The Three Tails?" I ask.

Ao and my mother both look at me and then at each other.

"I guess it doesn't really matter at this point" My mother says, sighing again.

…If she keeps sighing like that, she's going to age faster…

I'll keep that thought to myself.

"Yagura is a Jinchuriki. He houses one of the nine chakra demons inside of his body. He's fairly adept in its use as well" Ao takes over and explains.

…Though I still have questions.

My mother continues.

"Yagura told me that the Three Tails was his friend. He was working on being able to use a full body transformation before he…left"

"What's a chakra demon?" I ask. They were missing a pretty big detail.

"It's a giant demon with an incredibly large and powerful chakra. They were all sealed by the first Hokage and dispersed to the various ninja villages. Kirigakure got the Three Tails and the Seven Tails. The Jinchuriki for the Seven Tails became a Missing-Nin several years ago though and his current location is unknown" Ao explains.

I nod in response.

Zabuza Sensei taught me about basic fuinjutsu before, so I understand the principle of sealing something inside of something.

"Back on topic" My mother smiles at me.

…I feel like we're glossing over something really important…

"Would you know how to break the genjutsu if you had the opportunity?" She asks Ao.

He frowns with one eye.

"…In theory" He responds.

My mother nods and starts to think deeply with a frown on her face.

"…Alright, this could very easily decide this war. If we could get him back…" She shows a small but genuine smile.

"What's the plan?" Zabuza Sensei asks.

"Our intel suggests that Yagura doesn't take part in actual battles, he's strictly the leader on the backline. If we can draw most of their forces into a large battle, we could send a small reconnaissance team to Yagura's location" My mother responds.

"Who would be on this reconnaissance team?" I ask excitedly.

She gives me a wry smile.

"Ao obviously, but beyond him, we'll have to examine our forces carefully in order to select to right people. We're not staging this battle tomorrow after all, this war has been going on for eight years, there's no need to rush. We'll spend the next few weeks planning our moves and then we'll act on it"

I nod quietly. I was excited to join the war…

"We will be waiting to hear what the plan is. We're here because we completed our mission. Raiga Kurosuki is dead and we now have the Kiba blades" Zabuza Sensei changes the subject.

My mother nods with a smile.

"Well done. Were there any problems?"

"None. Saizo and Haku performed excellently and no injuries were sustained"

My eye twitches when I hear that. I know I could have done better, I still need to train and get stronger. If Zabuza Sensei wasn't there we would have stood no chance…

"Where are the blades?"

Zabuza gestures towards me, so I hold the Kiba blades out and circulate their chakra, to give them a faint blue glow like I did with Byakura. If I want to be the next owner of these blades, I need to show off a bit.

My mother looks at me with mild surprise.

"You trained in lightning release?"

I shake my head.

Her looks changes to one of confusion.

"Then how…"

She doesn't finish her sentence as Ao interrupts her.

"The blades appear to have their own internal chakra network! It's incredible! How are there no records of this?"

I look at Ao, whose eyepatch is now surrounded by bulging veins.

My mother's forehead gets a bulging vein of its own. She turns to Ao with an empty smile.

"Don't interrupt me in the future if you value your life"

She says it sweetly, but the words are coated in poison and Ao is now breaking out in a cold sweat.

I kind of felt that my mother was scary, but this…

Are all girls like that? Haku seems much nicer…

I look at Haku, who looks like she's studying something interesting and glance at Zabuza Sensei, who managed to maintain his emotionless appearance…yet shut his eyes for unknown reasons.

I hope Haku doesn't pick up any bad habits…

My mother turns back to me and I unconsciously flinch.

"So the blades have their own internal supply of chakra?" She asks me, returning to normal.

I release a breath I didn't realize I was holding and reply.

"No, but they can absorb chakra from real lightning and maintain the supply within itself"

"I see" she frowns.

"Is it something anyone can use?" She continues.

I feel my heart beat. This is it! I can't lie, but I can imply that I'm the best choice.

"I'm not sure. I trained in order to be able to sense the chakra it uses, I don't know if anyone else can use it the way I do"

"May I see them?" She asks politely, hands outstretched.

I nod and hand them over.

She examines them in her hands for a few seconds before closing her eyes.

A couple of minutes pass before she opens her eyes and hands them back to me, my eyes widen in question. Did she sense the chakra? Could she use it like I could? Was the training I did completely pointless?

She shakes her head while smiling at me.

"I couldn't sense anything"

She turns to Ao.

"Could you see any chakra in the blades? Or just the network?"

Ao flinches visibly before collecting himself.

"…I could sense an energy, but it was different to chakra"

My mother nods in response, ignoring his clear discomfort.

"I have a few other candidates in mind for the Kiba blades" She says, but her eyes are smiling so I don't think of it as bad news.

"I'm going to arrange for the candidates to meet tomorrow to test your compatibility with the swords. The final decision will belong to me. So Saizo, make sure to go to the first training ground tomorrow morning" She smiles and ruffles my hair.

I smile broadly and nod.

* * *

 **The Next Morning**

I wake up bright and early, excited to finally get official ownership of the Kiba Blades!

I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, but if what my mother said is to be believed, them no one should be able to use the swords like I can! Even if they have a natural affinity for lightning chakra, it shouldn't be as strong.

I make my way to the training ground under the watchful eye of Haku, who insisted on joining me.

I'm not sure why, but she started following me to the training ground as if it were obvious.

"You don't have come too, you should get some sleep"

"I am already well rested. I wish to see you become one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen with my own eyes"

She brushed off my concern and kept following me…

My heart feels at ease when she's with me and her confidence in me makes me more confident in myself.

I smile back at her and we reach the training ground shortly after.

My mother is already there alongside two full grown adults wearing Kiri headbands.

"You're finally here Saizo, let's get started"

Was I late? Isn't it like 5 in the morning? The sun's not even all the way up yet…

The male ninja looks at me with a frown.

"Why is he here? Surely he isn't a candidate?"

My mother looks at him with the same cold smile she had used on Ao yesterday.

"He is. I've deemed him suitable to be the next owner of the Kiba blades. Is there a problem?"

The temperature in the air gets a little colder as the male ninja quickly shuts up and shakes his head.

And just like that she's back to normal…

"Excellent" She says with a more genuine smile.

My mother takes out the Kiba blades and hands them to the male ninja.

"Now Teika, these are the Kiba blades. They can harness lightning chakra to become faster, sharper and deliver lightning attacks. Show me what you can do"

Teika is a well-built man with short spiky blue hair and sharp teeth. He looks about Zabuza Sensei's age.

The man named Teika attempts to enhance the blades with lightning chakra…nothing happens. He frowns and then glows blue as he attempts to pour more chakra into the blades…nothing happens.

"Is something wrong?" My mother asks him with a small smile.

He flinches and frowns harder.

"The swords aren't accepting my chakra…"

"Disappointing…" My mother says with a larger smile and moves onto the next ninja.

…I think she's rooting for me.

"Shuri, let's see what you can do"

Shuri was a kunoichi a bit younger than my mother. She had short black hair and wore the standard jonin flak jacket.

Shuri takes the blades and begins with a kata. Her moves are sharp, she's clearly very skilled with two ordinary blades. After she finishes, she too attempts to infuse the blades with her lightning chakra nature…nothing happens.

"…hah, nothing…"

She sighs and hands the blades back to my mother who smiles and moves on to me.

"Your turn Saizo" She nods.

I look to Haku who smiles at me sweetly.

I smile back.

During the previous two attempts at wielding the blades, I noticed that the chakra from the actual lightning bolt (which I'm now just going to call bolt chakra, because I'm confusing myself) present in the Kiba blades was absorbing the chakra the other two ninja put in. The amount didn't increase, the new chakra sort of just dissipated as soon as it made contact with the much more pure bolt chakra.

I should have a much easier time, since I'm the only one who can sense and use the bolt chakra right now.

Here we go.

I circulate the chakra inside of the blades and launch a quarter of the remaining reserves at a nearby tree. The tree gets sliced in half easily and the top half slides off, the ends are burnt black where the lightning chakra touched the tree.

My mother smiles broadly at me and looks towards the other two candidates who are staring at me with their jaws hanging down.

"I think the new owner of the Kiba blades is decided…"

"How the hell?! He cheated! He must have…"

The blue haired ninja name Teika interrupted my mother and started yelling things…

…Which I knew from experience wasn't a good idea…

I look warily at my mother who's already started smiling coldly.

"Teika"

The ninja Teika stops yelling and turns to look at my mother, still frowning. Then quickly realizes who he's frowning at and ends up flinching and physically taking a step back.

"Shut up"

…I think Teika might be lucky to be alive…

"If there are no more complaints…" My mother says snidely, staring at Teika for a second too long...

Then just like that, she switches to a warm smile.

"The Kiba blades will now belong to Saizo Karatachi of Kiri"

She hands me the swords.

It's weird to hear my last name...

"Congratulations" She ruffles my hair.

"Good job Saizo!" Haku smiles .

"Yes, that lightning blast was extraordinary. Well done!" The kunoichi Shuri also commented.

The three women look at Teika simultaneously, who now looks like a beaten dog.

I think I hear him whimper as he flinches and stutters out.

"G…good job…"

The three women nod in unison.

"Let's go tell Zabuza Sensei!" Haku says excitedly, grabbing my hand and leading me away.

It's been a good morning.

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile**_

A man wearing an orange spiraled mask looks on.

"How intriguing, Yagura has a son"

A deep voice bellows out.

"They've also finally figure out my genjutsu…"

"This changes my plans"

The orange masked figure phases into the ground.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 – Two Weeks Later**

Zabuza Sensei, Haku and I were called to the meeting room early in the morning by Chojuro of all people.

I still can't quite figure him out. He's all nervous now, unlike when he was trying to kill me.

"Yea so, if you're not busy, the leader wants to see you all in the meeting room"

Zabuza Sensei just nods and gestures Chojuro to lead.

Chojuro blushes like it's some sort of honor and nods hesitantly before leading us all off towards the meeting room.

"Do you think this is about the battle?" I whisper to Haku on my right side.

"Probably" She nods gravely.

I tilt my head slightly.

"Are you nervous?" I ask.

"Of course not!" She opens her eyes wide in offence.

"I merely wish to perform well in order to honour my clan…"

I smile in response.

I know she's not trying to start a fight, she's an orphan like me…

…Wait, I guess I'm not an orphan anymore actually…

Anyway, she's an orphan and from what she's let on, her parents didn't exactly die peacefully.

She seems to hold a lot of hate for my father and the whole kekkai genkai massacres he incited.

I hold her hand and squeeze it reassuringly.

"We'll win! Don't worry I'm sure you'll make your clan really proud"

She frowns a little and nods with a wry smile.

We reach the meeting room, where my mother is pouring over documents alongside Byakura.

"So you finally made it" my mother says teasingly.

Her teasing seems to greatly alarm Chojuro though, as he jolts up and starts to stumble out a response.

"I...I…Reporting for uh…ready for orders Madam!"

I see my mother's eyebrows twitch and a vein appear on her forehead…

…Uh oh.

"Chojuro! You should address your senior with more respect!" Ao from a nearby desk filled with his own stack of paperwork yells out.

A second vein sprouts on my mother's forehead and I think I can actually feel the temperature in the room decrease…

…Poor Ao…

"Senior? I didn't realize I was already such an old woman"

She laughs into her hand with a cold expression.

"Be quiet or I'll kill you" She says sweetly…

Ao suddenly gets incredibly engrossed in what he's doing, cold sweat dripping down his face.

Chojuro on the other hand, who was already nervous, becomes completely petrified.

Zabzua Sensei took this opportunity to speak up.

"Is it about the upcoming battle?"

"Oh yes, the battle and infiltration will commence in one week. You're here to receive your assignments"

My mother switches back to friendly in an instant…

"What are we doing then?" I ask.

"Zabuza will be joining the infiltration team with Ao, while Saizo, Haku and Chojuro will form a unit under Shuri, whom I believe you've met before"

A woman with short black hair wearing a mask appeared out of seemingly nowhere. She had two swords strapped to her back and was wearing the mask worn traditionally by the Hunter-Nin of Kirigakure. I should know, since several people wearing such masks have tried to kill Zabuza Sensei, though none ever succeeded.

She takes off the mask and greets us with a warm smile.

"It's nice to see you again Saizo, Haku" she says looking at us in turn.

"You as well Chojuro" She says to the boy who responds with a trademark blush.

"Why are we being separated from Zabuza Sensei" I ask.

We've always been together for missions; it feels wrong to suddenly work with a new team…Even if Shuri seems nice…

"Zabuza's has a high level of skill in assassination and stealth making him a prime candidate for an infiltration mission. On top of that, his level of strength is high which is crucial when the opponent is the Mizukage. You and Haku are progressing well for your age…but your skills are likely to hold back an infiltration mission"

I frown but nod in agreement.

No one is more aware of their own weaknesses than me…

I look over at Haku, who's still on my right side and see that she's also frowning at this development. We're a team! We work as a team. I look back at Zabuza Sensei behind me, but he doesn't seem too worried…though he never does…

It's even weirder for me than Haku. I don't think I've ever even gotten into a fight without Zabuza Sensei with me…It's a bit strange, I'm feeling nervous for the first time in a long time. Apparently Zabuza Sensei has been a bit of safety net for me in terms of actual fighting… I knew that if I was ever really in trouble, he'd always be able to get me out of it…

"Don't look so upset, Chojuro and Shuri are both very skilled and you'll get plenty of action on the battlefield" My mother smiles at Haku and I.

I nod in reluctance.

It's not like she hasn't thought about this. I'll just have to put my faith in her decision.

* * *

 **One Week Later**

Our new team assembles with the rest of the legion of ninja preparing for battle.

I can't count all the ninja here, but according to my mother it should be just under four hundred. We all stand before my mother and her advisors like Byakura; they're standing on an elevated platform at the front.

We've purposely made no effort to hide our intentions as to draw most of their ninja into the battle, that way the infiltration team can sneak into their stronghold and hopefully undo the super genjutsu on my father.

"It's been a long war…" My mother starts her speech.

"…and we've all lost someone or something in order to win…"

The speech is more depressing than inspiring so far…

"…but I'm here to tell you that today is going to be a turning point! We're going all out in this battle! Together, we're going to turn the tide of this war and take Kirigakure in the right direction! Trust in each other and trust in me! We _will_ win this!"

A cheer erupts from the crowd and I can feel the goosebumps form on my arm. This was really incredible.

I sort of forget just who my mother is sometimes, but when she's giving a speech to several hundred ninja, it's kind of hard to ignore. She really is an incredible person…

"Fall in line!" A buff looking ninja yells out and Shuri motions us to follow her.

We follow Shuri over to a line of ninja on the far right side of the crowd where Shuri tells us to stand.

On the elevated platform in front of us was Byakura.

"I'll be the leader of company 4 for this battle" The older man says with a calm expression.

However, from knowing him a little bit I can tell how serious he is compared to his normal smiling and easy going attitude.

What followed was a strategy meeting amongst company 4. Byakura spoke to the squad captains like Shuri within his company leaving Haku, Chojuro and I to talk.

"Are you guys nervous?" Chojuro asks.

"I am prepared" Haku responds, not answering whether she was nervous or not.

I look down at my own shaking hands.

Am I nervous?

…A little bit. My safety net is gone for the first time in my life…

…But more than nervous, I feel…

…Excited.

I smile at Chojuro, clutching my shaking hands into fists.

"I can't wait" I respond, taking him back a little.

Even Haku looks slightly surprised with my answer, giving me a small frown.

"What's with the sword anyway?" I ask Chojuro, who has a weirdly shaped, wide, two-handed sword strapped to his back.

"This is the Hiramekarei!" Chojuro beams.

Haku and I both look at him with wide eyes and then at each other, then back at him.

"One of the seven swords?" Haku asks.

"That's right!" Chojuro smiles back.

We both look at him skeptically…

So this is who had the sword…

"Are you…" I stop, trying to phrase this delicately.

"…are you any good with it?" I ask, trying to not sound insulting.

Chojuro luckily doesn't notice what I'm thinking as he responds with a big grin on his face. Clearly talking about his sword makes him very happy.

"Your mother gave it to me after a lot of candidates were looked at! Apparently I had the most compatibility with it!"

That's true I guess. What was it that my mother said about the wielder of the Hiramekarei before?

Right, that they weren't any less skilled in kenjutsu than me…

I guess this is just another thing that I'll have to trust my mother's judgement on.

* * *

 **Four Hours Later**

We've been keeping a fast pace towards the enemy base for a while now.

Though, in terms of ninja pace, we were basically jogging.

Our company was taking the right flank on route to the enemy base.

I'm not sure if this was a strategy to actually win the battle or make it look like we had some sort of strategy, in order to draw in more enemy ninja and give the infiltration team a better chance to succeed.

Movement suddenly erupts within the ranks as several ninja squads sprint past our own to the front of the company.

"Our sensory ninja have picked up enemy ninja ahead, prepare yourselves for battle" Shuri tells us.

Our squad was to be in the rear of the company. Chojuro, Haku and I ready our weapons and remain on alert.

I could hear the clash of metal up ahead and the sound of explosions.

A fight had broken out.

But our orders were to remain in the rear…

…We weren't being given the safe and easy assignment on purpose were we?

I frown at the thought.

"Flank!" The sensory ninja next to Byakura yells out.

My eyes widen as hundreds of kunai rain down from the sky.

I go to use the earth wall jutsu to block the attack…

…but my hands are stopped from completing the signs by Shuri.

"Not that jutsu, it would completely block our line of sight. Being a ninja is about thinking ten steps ahead of your opponent"

She lectures while weaving signs of her own.

"Water wall!" She yells as the kunai impact the wall of transparent water she just created above our heads.

The kunai lose all momentum and collapse in a puddle as Shuri releases the jutsu.

Ninja suddenly jump from the trees in front of us, drawing swords and other sharp objects, instantly engaging our ninja in a close range confrontation.

I frown as I go through the list of my own jutsu internally and discover than none of them are precise enough to attack with when they're fighting with allied ninja.

Only one choice then.

I draw the Kiba swords attacked to my back.

"Haku, support us with ice senbon!" I look towards my friend and teammate who nods in response. Only her ice senbon technique is accurate enough in the chaotic battlefield.

"Chojuro!" I yell out to my other teammate, who's standing on my other side looking completely mortified by the battle in front of him.

"Let's show them what real swordsmen look like!"

I yell out and activate the bolt chakra in the swords. It's depleted a lot since I was able to get it struck by lightning, but there's more than enough left for what I want to do.

I cloak the swords in the bolt chakra and charge into the enemy ninja.

I slice right through the first ninja I see. He was distracted by the ally ninja fighting him and the Kiba swords end it in an instant as they bisect him completely in two.

I don't stop.

There's another enemy ninja two metres from the first, too far away to cut with my kiba swords but not for the bolt chakra, which I use to extend the blade by four times for an instant and bisects this man in two as well.

Now I'm on a roll.

Slice, slice, slice.

I bisect six ninja before anyone even has time to process what it was that I was doing.

The allied ninja clear a path, the enemy ninja try to stay clear. I find myself strangely isolated on the chaotic battlefield as no ninja wants to get near me.

I see several ninja nearby slump as ice senbon pierce their necks. I even hear Chojuro yell out as I see an enemy ninja fly into the distance after being hit by his dual handed sword…which was now a giant hammer…

…I'll think about that later.

A sword suddenly flies towards the side of my head. I duck under and take some distance as a man with a flak jacket and a Kirigakure headband reveals himself.

I dash back towards him using one sword to block his blow and the other to slice at his stomach, aiming to cut him in two.

He manages to substitute himself with a piece of wood, which I cut in two instead.

I turn back around to see him bearing down on me again.

He attempts to strike me with his sword from below this time, which I block and slash at him with the other sword from above.

He move in and low kicks me, taking away my footing and making me fall backwards.

He follows me and begins to slash down again…

…but he's left himself far too open.

I extend my blade with the bolt chakra, running clean through his stomach before slashing outwards, sending his internal organs gushing from his side.

I don't spare him another glance as I move onto my next target.

…This is pretty fun…

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile**_

A man wearing an orange spiraled mask looks on.

"You see that Yagura? Your son seems to be quite the bloodthirsty little monster. Perhaps he takes after you in that regard?"

Yagura stares lifelessly at the battlefield. He was a puppet, the sharingan controlled him completely.

"Don't worry so much, you'll soon be reunited"


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

I wake up with a start.

My breath is heavy and I'm covered in sweat…

…I also can't move.

I look to my left and to my right using my eyes and see that my arms and legs are held in shackles, but more than that I can't even move my fingers…

Where the hell am I anyway?

I remember fighting on the battlefield with my Kiba swords and then…

…nothing, there's a big gap there somewhere…

My surroundings are dark and the air feels damp and warm.

I try to circulate my chakra…but I can't find it…

I feel my blood run cold. What the hell is happening?

"You're awake"

A deep voice sounds from the darkness

A figure in an orange swirled mask wearing a black cloak covered in red clouds steps forward from the darkness. One eye shines through the singular hole on the mask, showing a blood red eye with a peculiar iris.

"Let's not delay any longer then, Yagura lie down over there"

A boy with pink eyes steps forward, he looks almost identical to me aside from his hair colour which looks more of a dark gray compared to my brownish red hair.

…This was my father, Yagura Karatchi, the Mizukage…

I try to hold down my rising emotions as I look back at the masked man.

Who is he? Could he be the one with the unique Kekkai Genkai that cast a super genjutsu on my father?

My father…he…certainly doesn't seem to be very lifelike. His pink eyes look glossy and his movements are stiff…

My father lies down next to me on the stone platform and faces upwards lifelessly.

"...Just what…did you do to him?"

I finally manage to say as a woman steps forward from the darkness holding a syringe.

She was wearing the same cloak, but her face was actually showing. She had blue hair wrapped in a bun with some sort of flower hair ornament.

The man in the orange mask chuckles.

"I suppose there's no harm in telling you, especially since your mother has already figured out most of it. He's under my genjutsu"

The blue haired woman stepped forward with the syringe and injected my father with it.

"What are you doing!"

I suddenly raise my voice, surprising even myself.

"Calm down Saizo"

I don't know why, but a shiver went up my spine when the masked man said my name.

"We injected you with the same chemical. Orochimaru may have betrayed us, but the things he left behind still have their uses. This chemical paralyzes the chakra network and the body"

I can feel my heartbeat quicken as I try to process any information available. How can I get out of this?

"Why?"

I ask. I'm not sure what happens next, but buying some time might help…

"Because it's important that you're not only awake for the…procedure, but that you and your father don't put up any resistance"

The orange masked man responds, offering no useful information.

"Pein are we ready?" The man suddenly asks into the darkness.

"We are" An equally deep voice responds as a man steps forward.

The man called Pein was wearing the same cloak as the other two, he has bright orange hair and a line of metal piercings up his nose. His eyes had a strange swirling pattern…

…And at that point I realized…I wasn't going to get out of this. I don't know who these people are, but they've apparently been secretly leading the entire village of Kirigakure for the last eight years. On top of that, there's a strange feeling of panic that I get in their presence, something deep down inside just telling me to run… Like how a rabbit must feel when it sees a wolf…

"I'll undo the genjutsu. Make it quick, Yagura may be sedated but the Three Tails may try to escape"

Pein nods and moves forward towards me…

…I take it back…

…It feels more like I'm an ant in front of an elephant…

A loud gasp cries out from next to me as life comes back into my father's eyes.

"Wha?! You! Where are we?! What have you done?!"

He was all but physically thrashing around as his rage swept over the room.

"Yagura, I'd like to introduce you to your son Saizo" The orange masked man says almost fondly and gestures towards me"

Meanwhile, Pein had already begun to draw with ink on my stomach. I couldn't tell what he was doing, obviously some kind of fuinjusu…but that stuff was always beyond me.

My father looks towards me; anger, doubt and fear all showing on his face.

"Saizo hasn't been born yet…" He says much quieter than he did when he awoke.

"Hey Dad" I reply with a smile that was completely forced.

"What did you do" He turns back to the orange masked man with a killing intent that even I was slightly taken aback by.

"It's been eight years since our little fight just outside of Kirigakure" He replies with a hint of glee in his voice.

My father's face becomes ashen as he turns back to me with a searching look, asking me to deny it.

"He's had you under a genjutsu" I supply. I can't even imagine what he's thinking right now.

…

"…You have your mother's hair…" He finally says before suddenly turning a shade paler.

"Mei…Your mother…is she?"

"She's fine!" I quickly respond.

…

"Though…she is leading a rebellion against your Kirigakure…"

" _My_ Kirigakure?" He picks up from my words.

"…genjutsu…" I reply without going into the specifics.

Though it turns out someone else was delighted to go into specifics.

"Well, I couldn't have the Mizukage quit his duties all of a sudden" The orange masked man chuckles darkly.

"I've been having you and your village slaughter your own people…It was surprisingly easy, they really didn't seem to like the Kekkai Genkai users much already"

I flinch as a dark chakra suddenly rises up from my father. I feel the ink lines on my stomach increase in speed.

"I'm going to kill you"

I believed him. As it turned out, my father was scarier than my mother. As hard as that was to believe…I guess that's why he was the Mizukage.

"Yes, well my grudge with kirigakure has been…somewhat placated" the orange masked man says completely unconcerned with the threat.

"I now know that it wasn't the fault of Kirigakure…no…it was the fault of the entire shinobi world...and soon the whole world will know" His tone of voice taking on a darker note.

"Finished" Pein suddenly says from my stomach region as he retreats back next to the orange masked man.

"No" My father barely voice out as he spies the ink patterns on my stomach.

"I won't let you!" He yells as the dark chakra suddenly envelops everything around me.

"You don't have a choice" Pein says as the mass of chakra suddenly gets sucked into my gut.

It felt…warm at first, maybe even pleasant, but more chakra just kept pouring in.

"We don't yet have the means to absorb the three tails…" The voice of the orange masked man voices out snidely.

Then it started to burn, it felt like I had swallowed a small match.

"…On top of that the rebellion finally noticed that you were under a genjutsu…"

Then the entire inside of my body was on fire.

"…If they were to break it…you're too powerful to be allowed to roam around with something we need inside of you, it would be a threat to our plans"

It felt like I was going to melt from the inside out.

"At first we were just going to kill you and then capture then three tails again once it revived…but then I discovered your son…"

As if there was a being inside of me stabbing through my insides in order to escape.

"He's weak, but strong enough to handle being a jinchuriki without dying and he's a perfect match as the blood relative of a previous host. He's someone we can simply take the three tails from in the future as we need it. Much easier than having to find and capture it by itself…"

"NO!" I hear my father yell as my thoughts begin to merge into something less sophisticated.

It was pain, I could only think of pain.

* * *

 **After an Unknown Amount of Time**

I awoke suddenly, sitting straight up and jumping to my feet.

I was somewhere else.

I jumped through the nearby window and began to run.

Ask questions later. I need to escape.

Escape. Escape. Escape.

I can't let them get me again. Never again.

"Saizo" I hear a deep voice from behind me.

No, no, no, I won't let you take me!

I use the most powerful and indiscriminate jutsu I know, the boil release: corrosive mist.

I launch through the hand signs and breath out a plume of corrosive mist in front of me. As the user I'm immune and it should be able to stop them from chasing me.

"Saizo!" A woman's voice now and it's close!

I whip around while using the hand signs for my lava release: melting apparition.

A plume of lava bursts out at my attackers and I turn to run once more.

…Where I see Zabuza Sensei standing there with his sword drawn.

"Zabuza Sensei!" I yell happily.

He breathes a sigh and continues to stare me down with his sword drawn.

"Do you know where you are Saizo?"

"No, but we need to get out of here Sensei! They were chasing me and…"

He cuts me off.

"Who was chasing you?"

I turn and point as I see my mother standing there looking deadly serious.

"They were…"

What's going on?

At this point I examine the greater surrounding area and notice we're in a city of some kind…

People have stepped outside of their houses and they're looking at me with horror and fear in their eyes.

"Saizo…you're safe now…we're in Kirigakure…" My mother is panting and looks far more tired and in poor shape than I've ever seen her.

My mouth drops open and I pale as I think about what it was I was just doing.

…What's going on…


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

We all make our way back to the room I broke out of and sprinted away from…

…It was a hospital as it turned out…

People were giving me really terrible looks on the way there; I must have freaked them out a bit when I run frantically away from the hospital…and used two large Kekkai Genkai jutsu…

…Can't really blame them for that.

We make our way back into the hospital room where I'm physically made to sit down by Zabuza Sensei.

At some point, Ao and Haku had joined us.

…Though they honestly might have been there from the start. My mind doesn't feel quite right.

"Ao?" My mother says in a questioning voice.

The veins by his eye patch bulge and he stares at me for a good few seconds.

"Nothing" He says and the veins recede.

My mother sighs in relief before frowning again.

I glance around the room.

I try to make eye contact with Haku, but she looks down and away from me with a frown of her own.

…Ouch…

I look to Zabuza Sensei, who returns my stare with a look of his own. Concerned eyes, if my years of training in the subtle art of Zabuza Sensei non-verbal language were anything to go by.

"Did something happen?" I ask looking down at myself.

This isn't where I find out that I've been under a genjutsu for eight years is it?! Everyone looks the same though…so that shouldn't be the case...

Everyone suddenly stares at me.

"What's the last thing you remember?" My mother asks.

…uh oh…

"Well we were in the forest fighting against the Kirigakure ninja and then suddenly I'm waking up on some sort of stone table…There's a gap there somewhere that I can't quite piece together"

Haku visibly winces.

"Then what?" Zabuza Sensei asks.

"Then there were these three guys. Well, two guys and one girl, they were wearing those robes with the red clouds. The same ones that Itachi and Orochimaru were wearing from that one time"

Zabuza Sensei grits his teeth.

"The Akatsuki" He bites out viciously.

I nod.

"Right, they uhm" I look at my mother whose expression I can't quite read.

I'm normally quite good at reading people's expressions due to all the time I've had practicing on Zabuza Sensei, but I really don't know what to make of the look my mother is giving me right now.

"They...my father was there"

The look she gave me next was more of grim acceptance than shock.

"They had him under a genjutsu like Ao thought" I added sadly.

He lost so much time, so much of himself.

I never even got a chance to spend any time with him...

I'm not sure if being experimented on by the Akatsuki next to each other counts.

I can't imagine what he must have been feeling.

…No, I think I've got some idea actually…

My sadness is quickly replaced by anger.

If it wasn't for them…

That orange masked bastard…

My parents would have stayed together…

There wouldn't have been a war…

Haku's parents would be alive…

My parents and I…We would have been able to be together…all this time…

I clench my fists.

"They did something" I continue.

"The one with orange hair did some sort of seal on my stomach and then I'm not sure…There was a lot of pain that felt like it was never going to end and then I woke up here" I gesture to the hospital bed.

"You guys know what happened after that…" I finish embarrassedly.

…

…The mood felt heavy…

"Saizo" My mother breaks the silence.

"You should know…your father…we found his body" My mother clenches her fists and grimaces as she looks at me.

I blink in shock.

I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised. I thought I was going to die too and they had us in pretty vulnerable circumstances.

He was just so strong…

I thought maybe…

I look down at my bedsheets.

But then…

"Why am I still alive?"

I look back at my mother and I see what I think are the beginnings of tears in her eyes. Though before I can process that, they're gone as quick as they appeared.

Zabuza Sensei takes over.

"Do you remember our discussion on the chakra beasts and the Jinchuriki? That your father was the Jinchuriki for the Three Tails?"

I nod.

My mother continues, regaining her composure.

"The seal the drew on you…it was some sort of transfer seal. They…" She grits her teeth.

"They transferred the Three Tails…into you"

I blink in shock and my mouth gapes open looking for a response but my brain can't find one.

"Why?" I finally come up with.

"We don't know" She shakes her head.

I frown.

"What happens now then?"

"For now…" She looks at Zabuza Sensei who continues.

"You'll be back on a team with Haku and I. The village is united again and the war is over but they're in dire need of funds. We'll be hitting the road again to try and support the village"

I nod. My thoughts complicated, but it's not like I have anything better to do.

I felt it when they were in front of me…

The Akatsuki are strong, much stronger than I and much stronger than even Zabuza Sensei…

I need to train.

More than ever I need to be stronger.

I don't want to be that helpless ever again.

* * *

 **Haku's POV – Three Weeks Prior**

We're in over our head.

It was all I could think as the cascade on Kirigakure ninja collided into our own not ten metres away from my teammates and I.

How could we even hope to involve ourselves in that?

I flinch as I see an enemy ninja take the head of one of our own, a manic grin on his face.

"Haku, support us with ice senbon!"

I suddenly hear Saizo shout.

I start to form them on reflex before I realize what he's doing.

He's about to charge into the enemy forces….

"Chojuro! Let's show them what real swordsmen look like!"

I need to stop him! I panic and then my eyes widen in shock as he begins to completely slaughter the enemy ninja in no time at all…

I sigh and then smile.

What was I even worried about in the first place? He's always like this…so strong and cool…

…ahem…

Even Chojuro moves in on the action, his sword transforming into a hammer and slamming into a much bigger ninja…and subsequently sending him flying into the distance.

Chojuro's alright, he's a part of our temporary team…

..but if he attacks Saizo again…

…ahem…

I begin to launch ice senbon into our enemies, dozens at a time. I've had time to form a few hundred now, thanks to the support of the frontline and Saizo.

I even manage to hit a ninja that was about to attack Saizo! Who looked back and grinned at me!

Heheheh...

…the battle continues this way for a while. Until all the enemy ninja lie at our feet.

I stretch my back and arms, almost at the brink of chakra exhaustion.

I notice Chojuro walk over to me.

"Hey, have you seen Saizo?" He asks, looking around in confusion.

My heart stops as I frantically raise my head and look around.

I can't see him either.

I then spot the pile of bodies, indiscriminately laying on top of one another…

…no…

I dash over to the pile and start moving them, making sure to check all of their faces.

By this point I'm panting and not crying….definitely not crying…

Why would I cry? He's only the single most important person in my life…

The one who saved me and gave my life meaning again…

Who told me I was worth something and paved a way forward for me…

Who's been supporting me all this time…

I sniff as a hand grabs my shoulder from behind.

"Haku…" Shuri sounded from behind me.

"No! I need to find Saizo!" I start to dig through the bodies more frantically.

My voice was a bit loud, but that doesn't matter. I just need to find Saizo, that's all the matters.

"We need to get moving, Byakura gave his orders"

I look back at her in shock.

It was only then I noticed her own grave look, so I softened my voice.

"And Saizo?"

"Byakura says that since we cannot find the body, he might have been captured. The best path forward is to the enemy camp…then we might find him…"

She doesn't sound convinced by her own words…and I'm not convinced either...

But, it might be the only hope I have of seeing him alive again.

Just what could have happened? Who would have captured him? And why?

Something to do with his father? His mother?

I shake my head. It's useless to think about it, I just need to find him.

I steel my heart and speak.

"Let's go"

For the next two weeks I continuously fought and killed.

I couldn't be weak, I needed to find him.

…and find him we did…

After two weeks, the war was announced to be over and in our victory.

Yagura, Saizo's father, was dead and his mother got the unilateral surrender of the other side, claiming the title of Mizukage in the process.

…we also found Saizo…though we feared he was a corpse like his father at first…

He looked like a shell of himself, gaunt and malnourished.

I stayed at the side of his hospital bed all day every day for a week.

I couldn't deal with the guilt.

He was there for me when I most needed somebody. Where was I when he needed me?

I failed him and I could barely live with myself.

His mother seemed to share a similar sentiment as even though she was a new Mizukage after winning her seat in a long and bloody war, instead of consolidating her power, she was often sat right beside me in the hospital room that Saizo occupied, a similar haunted and guilty look on her face. We never spoke, just sat in silence…

…until he one day literally leapt out of bed and immediately out of the window…

I then saw him frantically sprint away as if being chased by a demon.

I was a step too late as Zabuza Sensei and his mother sprinted after him, a barrage of lava style and boil style jutsu being shot off as Saizo attempted to defend himself from whatever he thought was chasing him…

When we finally calmed him down and brought him back to the hospital room, he told us his story.

He tried to make eye contact with me, but I couldn't handle the shame.

I didn't deserve to call myself his friend and teammate…

When all was said and done, we left Saizo under guard and returned to the MIzukage's room for our mission assignment.

"We can't have him stay in the village…" Saizo's own mother said aloud as she addressed us.

My eyes opened in shock, but before I could speak Zabuza Sensei stopped me and replied.

"Of course, he looks too much like Yagura and now with the Three Tails and his little outburst, the village is more likely to try and kill him in his sleep than accept him"

I mouth opened in shock along with my eyes. How could they think that?!

The Mizukage grimaces.

"Almost makes me want to give up my title and leave the village completely…but, if I'm being honest I can understand their sentiment. If he wasn't my own son, I might feel the same…"

"How can you say that?!" I couldn't hold it in any longer.

Her face scrunches up in response and her knuckles turn white from how hard she gripped her hands.

"They've just been through a brutal, bloody and vicious eight year civil war and now someone eerily similar to the man responsible just launched several highly dangerous and powerful jutsu in the middle of the village"

"But Yagura wasn't responsible! It was the Akatsuki!"

"And we can never tell them that" The Mizukage says with a dire tone of voice.

"If we were to ever publicly release that the Akatsuki secretly manipulated Yagura for eight years and ignited a civil war then the village's already low credibility will reach zero and we would likely be in a another war tomorrow"

"What?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Anyone and everyone would see our village as an easy target and the chance of being hired for missions would be next to zero" Zabuza Sensei explained.

"So what, we're supposed to just abandon Saizo?!"

The Mizukage grits her teeth and inhaled deeply.

"Of course not. I'm sending Zabuza, you and him out on an extended mission to protect him from all of this…as much as it pains me…" I could tell from her face that she meant it.

I know from her almost as frequent visits to the hospital as me that she cares deeply about Saizo…

I look down at the ground and suppress my tears from falling.

…but even so…this is just…

"I'm entrusting him to Zabuza and you Haku. Please look after him for me"

A pleading look completely out of place for someone who led a successful rebellion against a village and now ruled it.

But this…

"I promise"

…Is something I can do.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 – Four Years Later**

"Zabuza Sensei, this Gato guy seems like bad news."

"He's not someone we can refuse in our current situation Saizo. He has too much money and too much influence"

"I'm inclined to side with Saizo on this one Zabuza Sensei, he seems like he's more likely to stab us in the back than pay us"

Zabuza Sensei, Haku and I are walking away from a meeting we just held with Gato, the founder of the Gato Company, a multinational shipping corporation that makes a lot of money.

He wants to hire us to kill a bridge builder. Bridges are bad for shipping apparently.

Pretty nasty stuff, but he was offering a lot of money. So much so, that we're willing to get our hands a bit dirty. Kirigakure is still in dire straits, though the situation has certainly improved somewhat since four years ago.

The problem is that Gato seems just about as reliable as a weasel. He didn't seem to think very highly of us, maybe because we were Kiri ninja? And I suppose Haku and I are only twelve.

The reputation of Kirigakure has certainly increased over the last four years, though only in terms of mission reliability, our infamous 'Bloody Mist' reputation hasn't changed at all. Rather most people hiring us want us to do an assassination mission of some kind like Gato.

We generally make a point to take missions that promote a nicer image for Kirigakure, even if they're for slightly less money. But the amount of money being offered by Gato is more than ten times the usual fee; we weren't in a position to turn it down.

Gato also represents an influential figure throughout the elemental nations. A bad review from him could harm Kirigakure's reputation more severely than we might think.

Though, even Zabuza Sensei has problems with this mission. Assassination is fine, if not ordinary business for him, but assassinating a civilian is a completely different matter.

Zabuza Sensei knows all of this, which is why he accepted, but…

"If he stabs us in the back, then we kill him and take all his money directly" He smiles viciously.

"I'd actually prefer he do that, that way we get more money, maintain Kirigakure's reputation and we might not even have to kill the bridge builder" He continues with a smirk hidden behind his face mask.

"I see! If we just refuse the mission, our reliability will suffer, but if we kill him after he betrays us then it would show that Kiri ninja are strong and not to be messed with. It might even help our reputation a bit" I nod along with Zabuza Sensei's point.

"Though, it won't do much to alieve Kirigakure of it's 'Bloody Mist' reputation…" Haku says wryly.

"One step at a time" I smile at her.

She sighs but nods.

"How do we go about it then? We can't just hope Gato betrays us" I ask Zabuza Sensei.

"Easy, I've already obtained intelligence that the bridge builder hired ninja from Konohagakure. I've also hired a couple of low level chunin who went Missing-Nin from Kiri to attack them"

"How does that help?" I ask, one eyebrow raised.

"The more we fail, the weaker we'll look to Gato and the easier he'll think we can be taken advantage of. I've already reported to him what our initial attack will be; when it fails I'll also tell him. Then we'll attack them ourselves but go lightly on purpose, then retreat and report another failure"

I nod.

"Hopefully that's all it will take, there's a chance he actually won't betray us…"

Haku shakes her head.

"I'll bet everything I have that he'll have betrayed us by that point"

"How about a date?" I ask teasingly.

Haku frowns and makes a point to look away.

…ouch…

…I think I noticed I had feelings for Haku two years ago. Needless to say, as she got older she grew more and more beautiful. At first I just thought I was being aware of her as a girl, but after a while I realized it was something else.

My heart kept doing a…thing when she smiled at me. I found myself thinking about her more than I thought about myself.

Then I realized; I think I like Haku.

So…I asked her out about a year ago.

She…didn't take it very well.

* * *

 _ **Flashback – One Year Ago**_

'Haku…would you want to go on…a date sometime or something?'

She looked at me like I suddenly grew a horn out the side of my head.

'A date?' She asks, as if double checking her hearing.

'Yea, I mean…I like you, so…' My face felt hot.

Haku clenched her fists and looked at the ground.

'Such a thing…'

'Haku?'

It wasn't the reaction I was going for. A no or yes, even a maybe, but she looked like I had offended her or something.

'If…if you don't want to, we can just forget I said anything, ok?' I say, I didn't want to ruin our friendship. That was the last thing I wanted.

'No!' She suddenly looks up and yells.

I tilt my head…

I'm not sure what this reaction means…

If there's anything I've learnt from my mother…it's that girls are complicated…

…And sometimes scary…

Haku seems surprised by her own outburst and then returns to look at the ground, fists clenched.

'No…I can't…I'm not…I'm sorry…'

She runs off, keeping her face out of view.

 _ **Flashback End**_

* * *

That was one of the worst days of my life…

We've never spoken about it, but I really want to…

So sometimes I tease her like I just did and ask her out in a joking manner.

…She responds even less favourably…and now I feel like I'm trapped in my own joke…

I still have feelings for her…It's just hard…

My eye twitches and Zabuza Sensei changes the subject.

"Get prepared to move out, the demon brothers I hired should be engaging the Konoha ninja right around now. We need to engage ourselves soon"

Haku and I nod and begin to prepare our equipment.

We set up an ambush near the bridge in some trees next to the dock we know they have to use to cross the river.

We see the small wooden boat approach and watch as three kids around my and Haku's age get out along with two other men. One is much older and is wearing a backpack with a conical hat, he must be the bridge builder. The other is wearing a Konoha headband and has some really spiky white hair, his face is covered in a similar fashion to Zabuza Sensei.

"Damn" I hear Zabuza Sensei whisper under his breath.

Haku and I look towards him and he begins to sign commands.

'Change of plans, Haku wait here for emergency support, Saizo and I will engage. Saizo, stay away from the one with the white hair, he's out of your league. If I can, I'm going to kill him, he's a high ranking target from an enemy village'

I frown, but nod in compliance.

Believe it or not, I've actually gotten a lot stronger over the last four years! So if Zabuza Sensei says this white hair guy is out of my league then he must be ridiculously strong. Why someone so strong is guarding a bridge builder? Konoha might just have a lot of strong ninja that are out of my league…

…

…I still can't access any Jinchuuriki powers like my father could, supposedly the seal the Akatsuki used is a really powerful one, that orange haired guy clearly knew what he was doing.

I've become a lot more proficient with my Kiba swords though and my chakra capacity has increased by a gigantic amount, and I can use my Kekkai Genkai a lot more efficiently. I've also come up with some original jutsu for both lava and boil release!

So yea, I've come a long way…

I say that and glance towards the white haired ninja, who was currently chastising the blonde ninja with the orange jumpsuit.

…but there's still clearly a long way to go…

Zabuza Sensei nods to me and Haku, signaling the start of our ambush. Haku puts her Hunter-Nin mask on that she received from Shuri and nods in return.

I step on a stick on the ground on purpose and Zabuza Sensei throws his giant Kubikiribocho in a wide sweeping (obvious) arc towards the Konoha ninja and the bridge builder.

"Everyone get down!" The white haired ninja yelled as the three junior ninja and the bridge builder slam their bodies into the ground, leaving the sword to fly over them harmlessly, embedding itself into a tree.

Zabuza Sensei stands on the hilt of his sword menacingly glaring at them.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Hidden Mist's Missing-Nin Momochi Zabuza-Kun" The white haired ninja says mockingly.

"Pfftt" I couldn't help but barely restrain a laugh at Zabuza Sensei's expense.

…But it appears that gave my position away as the three junior ninja reformed their guard around the bridge builder towards the direction in which I was in…shit…

…screw it then…

"Zabuza-Kun…pfft" I say as I walk out into the clearing putting the junior ninja on their guard.

I spy Zabuza Sensei's eye twitch slightly in response, putting a wide smile on my face.

"Woah! Get out of here kid! Ninja are about to fight, ya know!" The blonde ninja says with an air of panic.

I blink and turn my head to the nervous looking pink haired ninja.

"Is he serious?" I ask, pointing at the blonde one.

The pink haired ninja sighed and nodded back.

"Sadly, I think he is"

The blonde one tilted his head and proceeded to look confused in response.

"I'm with him, dumbass" I say, pointing to Zabuza Sensei.

A look of realization and then anger appears on his face.

"I'm not a dumbass, you bastard!" And I got the feeling he would have charged at my right then and there if it wasn't for the white haired ninja putting a hand in front of him to stop him.

"Everybody step back, this one's on a whole other level" He says pointing at Zabuza Sensei.

"It will be a little tough…unless I do this…" He continues, reaching for the Konoha headband covering his left eye.

"You appear to be Sharingan Kakashi…sorry but…the old man is mine" Zabuza Sensei cuts him off and makes eye contact with me.

Sharingan? Like the Uchiha? I thought Zabuza told me they were all dead except Itachi…

The angry looking raven haired one seemed equally surprised by this news.

"…Take a distance from us…surround and protect Tazuna from the little one" he says…

…Is he referring to me?! Little?!

I know I'm a bit short for my age…but…

That bastard!

I feel my eye twitching and see Zabuza Sensei smirk at me from under his mask.

"Zabuza first…fight me" He continues, revealing a red eye with a strange iris…

Isn't that the same eye that orange masked guy had!? He was an Uchiha too?!

"Ah, I already get to see the famous Sharingan…I'm honored" Zabuza Sensei says sarcastically.

I shake my head. Let's worry about the implications of that after we pull this off…

"SHARINGAN, SHARINGAN, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" The blonde ninja yells out, looking particularly aggrieved by the whole thing.

…He really is an idiot, isn't he?

The angry looking raven haired one then launched into an explanation about the Sharingan. I've already heard what it does from Zabuza Sensei though, so I take the opportunity to take my Kiba blades off of my back and circulate the chakra.

"…The man who has copied over one thousand jutsu…copy ninja Kakashi" I stop when I hear Zabuza Sensei saying that, perhaps for my benefit…

…No wonder this Kakashi guy is out of my league…

Stick with the three junior ninja, I got it Sensei.

"Now…let's end all the talking…I have to kill that old man"

Zabuza Sensei finally says, maybe he was bored…I sure was…

His statement does have the effect of putting the junior ninja into action though, taking a distance and surrounding the old man.

Though that also means they get even closer to me…so I'm left with both the blonde and the raven haired one a few metres away, glaring at me, almost daring me to try something…

I just smile in response, which only seems to make them angrier…

"Hidden mist jutsu!"

Zabuza Sensei uses the one handed seal and a huge amount of mist surrounds everything, including the junior ninja in front of me.

"He'll come after me first" I hear Kakashi start talking.

"Zabuza Momochi is an expert in silent killing, you don't even notice until you're already dead, be careful"

"The mist is getting thicker!" The blonde one yells out, making me chuckle.

"8 choices; Liver, Lungs, Spine, Clevical Vein, Neck Vein, Kidneys, Heart…which should I go after?"

Zabuza Sensei says, using the scare tactic that we planned earlier, releasing a large amount of killing intent. It certainly seems to have worked on the junior ninja as I can see them go stiff through the mist. The raven haired one looks like he's about to pee his pants!

Being able to see through the mist is super helpful, Zabuza Sensei seems to think it's an effect of the Three Tails, since he's a chakra beast with a powerful water chakra.

"Sasuke…don't worry, I'll protect you guys even if it kills me. I don't let my comrades die" Kakashi says reassuringly to the junior ninja.

…It actually seems to have helped…

Sensei's water clone suddenly appears in the middle of the junior ninja's formation.

"It's over" He says, ready to slash before Kakashi charges in, separating the clone from the junior ninja with a stab in its back.

It bursts and Zabuza Sensei slashes at Kakashi from behind.

"Sensei, behind you!" the blonde one yelled too late…

…as Kakashi's water clone bursts and he puts a kunai to Sensei's throat…

"Don't move…It's over"

…Bastard…My turn then…

"Wow!" The blonde one exclaimed.

"Haha" The pink one laughed…

"Sword style: Lightning Slash" I yell to catch Kakashi's attention as the high speed lightning slash fires straight towards him.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball jutsu" The raven haired one, apparently called Sasuke yells back and my lightning slash is met with a plume of fire.

...To Sasuke's surprise, the plume of fire gets split in half and dissipates harmlessly as the lightning slash barrels towards Kakashi.

"I'm also not that easy!" Zabuza Sensei grunts.

He appears behind Kakashi as another of his water clones bursts by way of Kakashi's kunai as he leaps out of the way of my lightning slash…which subsequently splits a few trees in half before running out of chakra and dissipating itself.

"That one's a fake too!" The loud blonde one yells out as the real Zabuza Sensei launches a swords strike at Kakashi.

An impressive and (even though I hate to say it) far above me fight between kenjutsu and taijutsu from Kakashi and Zabuza Sensei takes place. Kakashi manages to dodge and weave through the massive swords strikes, but he's eventually kicked by Sensei into a nearby pond.

"Foolish!" Sensei yells, chasing after him.

"SENSEI!" The blonde one yells out.

"Water prison jutsu!" My own Sensei yells out, trapping Kakashi in a water bubble prison.

The three junior ninja pale.

"Saizo! Finish those three off while I have Kakashi contained"

The three junior ninja turn to me with stern gazes.

I smile in response.

"Let's get started then shall we?"


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Panic covered Kakashi's face.

"Take Tazuna and run! He's one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen like Zabuza! Don't underestimate him because of his age!"

The blonde one looked incredulous.

"I won't run! I'm going to be Hokage one day! The future Hokage won't run! Especially from someone as small as him!" He yells out passionately pointing at me.

I feel my eye twitch in response.

"Naruto, you idiot! We're only Genin! Did you see that lightning strike before?! He did that with his swords!" The pink haired one yells at the blonde haired ninja named Naruto.

He tightens his headband in reponse.

"You protect Tazuna, Sakura. Sasuke! Let's take this bastard down! I've got a plan!"

"Teamwork from you? Heh" He responds with a smirk

I stand there grinning at both of them.

"I don't know how it is in Konoha…" I start before dashing at them with my swords.

"…But in Kiri you have to be strong to become a Kage!" I yell as I slam my Kiba blades into Naruto's clumsily drawn Kunai.

He yells out in pain as he slams back into a tree.

"What are you doing?! This fight was over the moment I got caught! Our duty is to protect Tazuna! Run away!" Kakashi yells at them, still trapped in the water prison jutsu.

"Heh, I started this mess in the first place. Fight as much as you want" The old bridge builder grins.

My eyes squint as I look back at the approaching Sasuke.

"It seems like I'm being…underestimated!" I yell, parrying a thrown kunai from Sakura and taking Sasuke's held kunai with a block from my other blade.

I front kick Sasuke in the chest, but he rebounds back and starts using the hand signs for a familiar jutsu…

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu" He yells out and a plume of fire launches itself at me.

I smirk and use the single, one handed tiger seal.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu" I yell back as a fire plume twice the size of Sasuke's own impact his jutsu and over powers it.

Sasuke's eyes widen as my jutsu goes straight for him. He's in midair, so he has much less maneuverability.

Naruto flies in out of nowhere and pushes Sasuke out of the way, before exploding into smoke when my jutsu hits him…

…A clone jutsu…

Two more Naruto's suddenly jump at me from behind, kunai drawn.

"I hope for your sake that these are also clones Naruto…"

I coat my blades in bolt chakra and sever the two in half…

…They burst into smoke.

"…because most of my techniques are rather…deadly"

"That technique!" Kakashi suddenly yells out.

We all look at him.

"I only read the entry in the bingo book because of the nickname they gave you…Lightning Blade Saizo. B-ranked Missing-Nin from Kiri. The records of your battle in the civil war were…particularly gruesome…"

"What did he do?" Naruto asks back, giving me a glare.

"He used that Lightning Blade technique of his to sever dozens of enemies on the battlefield. He would have only been eight years old at the time…he even managed to take out several jonin ranked ninja…"

"What?!" Naruto yells out.

Sasuke and Sakura stiffen in shock. Even Tazuna sends me a fearful glare.

My response…

"…I didn't know they were jonin…they were so weak though…" I frown thoughtfully.

That one guy was pretty strong I guess…

"Wait, I'm in the bingo book?!" I suddenly realize and yell out.

"How come you didn't tell me?!" I point accusingly at Zabuza Sensei.

For his part, Sensei grimaces in response.

"…It would only be a distraction"

I pout and frown at him.

"Anyway…B-rank is a bit low…I've still got a long way to go…"

I suddenly jump out of the way as Sasuke launches at me in a flurry of taijutsu.

"…Rude" I frown at him blocking his strikes and using the leverage to launch back and use jutsu.

"Water Style: Water Bullet jutsu" I yell out and several streams of highly concentrated water shoot out at Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto and his clones.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto yells in response, hundreds of clones appearing around me, several bursting into smoke while blocking my jutsu.

I tilt my head in response.

"That's actually pretty impressive…" I say, somewhat shocked that the weak ninja I was play fighting with up until now suddenly used something that might be a threat to me.

"…Looks like I can't hold back then…" I sheave my swords and start weaving signs as the barrage of Naruto clones plow into me.

"Lava Style: Lava Sphere!" I yell out and a plume of lava erupts from my mouth, enveloping my body in a sphere of protective lava.

The hundreds of clones that were plowing into me all burst into smoke leaving behind a very shocked looking Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke holding a giant shuriken.

I allow the lava to dissipate.

They all stare at me.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Naruto yells out.

"What? It's a Kekkai Genkai like the Sharingan, lava style. Don't look so surprised…"

…

"What's that about anyway?" I ask, gesturing back at Kakashi and his singular red eye.

"I thought the only Uchiha left was Itachi"

Sasuke stiffens visibly at that and scowls at me.

"What do you know about Itachi?"

"Hm? I met him once, a while ago…was it five years ago, six maybe?"

The look on Sasuke face was…strange…another expression I couldn't read.

"Sasuke! The plan!" Naruto yells out from behind me, attempting to tackle me.

I step to the side and send a kick straight to his gut, which launches him back into a tree, knocking the wind right out of him.

Sasuke looks at me grimly from behind his shuriken.

"Evil Wind Shuriken: Shadow Windmill!" He says jumping up high and throwing the large weapon straight at me.

I dodge it easily and look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Was that it?"

Sasuke only smirks in response.

"I see, you're aiming at me" I hear Zabuza Sensei say from behind me.

My eyes widen in panic as I look back.

"But that's not enough!" Zabuza Sensei says, grabbing the shuriken out of midair.

"Heh" I grin as I turn around to see Sasuke still looking smug.

"Another one in the shuriken's shadow?" Zabuza Sensei continues talking as I turn around to see him jump over another shuriken.

"Still not enough!" Zabuza Sensei yells out as I see the dodged shuriken poof into a Naruto holding a kunai.

He grins widely and throws the weapon at Zabuza Sensei, who was still mid jump.

"Sensei!" I yell out, I won't be able to get there in time.

Sensei abandons the water prison jutsu in order to dodge the kunai, setting Kakashi free.

"You brat!" Zabuza Sensei yells out, attempting to throw the giant shuriken in his hand.

…Which is subsequently blocked by Kakashi…

"Naruto, it was a great plan"

"Heheheh" Naruto responds and then proceeds to begin explaining his entire plan in detail.

It involved some surprisingly difficult utilization of the clone and henge jutsu.

While everyone was seemingly distracted, I launched a kick at the nearby Sasuke to vent some of my frustration.

He blocks it with an annoying smirk.

I feel my eye twitch.

"Water Dragon jutsu!" I hear from behind me as Zabuza Sensei and Kakshi launch giant water dragons into each other.

A large wave crashes into Sasuke and I, sending him back, coughing up some water.

…While I coalesce the water into a sphere around myself.

It wasn't a jutsu technically; I've been able to utilize chakra to control water a lot more easily since I became the jinchuriki of the Three Tails.

Sasuke, for his part looked a bit nervous at this display.

"Excuse me while I take out some of my frustrations on you"

I thrust out a palm and use my chakra to shoot the water outwards, like a makeshift water bullet jutsu.

The water sphere turns into a dozen water bullets that fire towards Sasuke. They're noticeably slower than the normal water bullet jutsu and this is shown in full effect when Sasuke acrobatically dodged the bullets, the annoying smirk never leaving his face.

The advantage of using chakra to control water this way? It's that I can use it to control all water, even say…the water that Sasuke is jumping around in.

While Sasuke is busy dodging the water bullets, I manipulate the water below him to reach up and grab his legs, keeping him in place long enough to get a water bullet right in the chest. The water coiling around his legs keep him from flying back and he falls to his knees with a cough of blood. I bind his torso and arms with more strands of water, leaving him immobile.

"SASUKE!" Sakura screams out, looking on the verge of tears.

"You bastard!" Naruto yells out and sprints straight at me.

"WHAT?! IMPOSSIBLE!" I hear Zabuza Sensei yell out from behind me.

I spot a familiar giant whirlpool shooting out, impacting Sensei and destroying a lot of nearby trees.

I need to work fast…

I dodge Naruto's initial haymaker, sending a punch to his gut and then elbowing the top of his head with my other arm to send him to the ground. I wrap his limbs in the same way I did to Sasuke before looking over to where my Sensei is now splayed against a tree looking heavily injured, with several kunai injuries.

"…you're going to die" I hear Kakashi say, holding a kunai out in front of him.

"WAIT!" I yell out, holding a kunai of my own to Naruto's neck.

Kakashi looks over to me with a bored looking expression.

"Let's not be hasty here, maybe we can make a…"

I'm cut off as my vision fades to black, a low wheeze replacing the words that I was planning on saying, my body falling heavily to the ground.

...

I wake up in a bed with several bandages wrapped around me and Haku pulling a sizable needle out of my neck.

"Argh, for god's sake Haku, why did you do that?!" I sent her a frown and clutch my neck.

Clearly she enacted our plan of last resort, putting Sensei and I in a near death state with her senbon, pretending to be a Hunter-Nin and getting us out of the fight by lying through her teeth.

Haku looked back at me wordlessly.

"I was just…" She started.

"It was the right decision" Sensei cuts her off from the bed next to me sporting several more bandages than I was.

"What do you mean? I had Naruto and Sasuke incapacitated! All I had to do was exchange them for you and then we could have left without getting needles through our necks!" I send Haku a frown; she avoids my gaze and looks down at her feet.

"Except what you failed to notice, was that Kakashi had been keeping track of your fight and as soon as he deemed me no longer a threat, he replaced himself with a clone…"

Oh…

"…When you placed a kunai to Naruto's throat, the original Kakashi moved to finish you off…from behind you. If Haku didn't intervene, you would be dead right now"

Damn it, I'm still not strong enough!

"Sorry Haku…and thanks" I concede.

Haku gives me a small smile in response.

"What happened after I was out?"

"Kakashi checked both of your bodies and confirmed your deaths. Sakura and the bridge builder just stood there looking scared and Sasuke looked seriously pissed off"

"Sounds about right" I smirk.

"Naruto…was really upset. He almost started a fight with me, before Kakashi held him back. He wasn't happy that I killed you and he was seriously unhappy that someone his own age and so much stronger than him was killed by someone else his own age…I've still got a headache"

"He's pretty funny. Not a great ninja and I think I'm more likely to be the kage of his village than he is, but still pretty funny" I laugh.

"I do have one other question though…" I start.

Haku tilts her head adorably in question.

"Why the neck? You could have picked somewhere less painful…" I rub my aching neck again.

…

"…I just didn't want to scar your beautiful body…" Haku says quietly.

…I must have misheard that…

"What was that?"

"Game faces everyone, Gato's here…" Zabuza Sensei suddenly interjects.

"The plans changed somewhat, Kakashi is a much higher rank ninja than the assassination price we've been given would suggest. However, the plan is to take all of Gato's money, not a small increase to our fee…So, play up the injuries Saizo, we need him to think we'll definitely lose…"

Sensei's interrupted by the door being kicked in.

"So you've come back defeated…it looks like mist village ninja are pretty pathetic"

…He's so predictably stupid…

I'm not sure if I should smile or kick his teeth in for the insult.

…I'll settle on sitting here quietly and looking as pathetic as possible…

"You call yourself a demon? Don't make me laugh…" He snorts at Sensei, then he looks to me.

"Even the child is injured? Pathetic…but expected…."

His bodyguards begin to draw their swords.

Already? This is perfect!

I fight my mouth to keep from smiling.

"…Wait…No need to stay so silent…" He reaches out to touch me for some reason?

"Don't you dare touch Saizo with your filthy hands" Before Haku grabs his wrist and stops him, a dark look crossing her face.

…She looks as scary as mother does when she gets angry…

…Almost…

"You dare?!" Gato is taken aback and his guards rush us, swords fully drawn.

In an instant, Haku steals their swords and holds them to their necks.

"You shouldn't do that…I'm angry right now…"

Gato looks scared shitless…

Damn it Haku…

…Though perversely, I find myself smiling…

"ONE MORE TIME! IF YOU FAIL ONE MORE TIME THEN YOU WON'T BE WELCOME HERE ANYMORE!" Gato yells and runs out the room as fast as he can, his guards following right behind him.

…

"…Haku…" I start.

She was breathing in roughly, a haunted look on her face.

I sigh and place a hand on her arm, still dual wielding the guard's swords.

"We're alright now" I smile at her.

She flinches, but nods and drops the swords.

"I am sorry…my emotions got the better of me"

"It's probably for the best anyway, if we killed him in private like this, then they could spin any story" I reassured her.

She nods, a bit more colour returning to her face.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to go and collect some medicinal plants. Zabuza Sensei was injured quite severely"

I nod.

"In that case, I need to go and train"

That Kakashi guy even beat up Zabuza Sensei…

He nearly killed him…

If I want to protect the people important to me…then I need to be even stronger than Sensei.

Sensei taught me that one is truly strong when they have someone to protect, that that gives one purpose. Sensei gives me purpose…therefore I need to be even stronger than him! That way I can protect all of my precious people…

I need to be much, much stronger.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

I spent the next week trying to locate the Three Tails sealed inside of me.

Not that I hadn't been doing that for the past four years…

Zabuza Sensei had said that one of the main reasons that my father was so strong was because as a Jinchuriki, he could draw on the power of the Three Tails.

My mother had even said that he had been working on using the full body transformation. That's apparently when you can turn your entire body into the Three Tails itself. That's exactly the kind of overwhelming power I'm looking for!

However…

It's been four years and I don't feel like I've gotten any closer…

My mother had said that my father was friends with the Three Tails, so presumably there's a living being somewhere inside of me…I just need to find it!

I did experience a large growth in chakra since the…incident four years ago and it's been getting bigger and bigger every year. I've also got a really cool connection to water and water related jutsu now, as that's supposed to be the Three Tail's specialty. So I'm clearly getting some benefits, though only passively.

Imagine what I could get if I became friends with the Three Tails too! I could be as strong as my father was! Stronger even!

Though again…I haven't made any progress…

That's why I've also been working on ways to use my boil and lava release jutsu creatively. Since I've got a lot more chakra now, I can afford to use the Kekkai Genkai a lot more without running out of chakra almost immediately.

I did notice n my last fight that most of my techniques are…very lethal. It made it hard to fight with the Konoha ninja without violently killing them, which wasn't the plan.

So other than trying to find the Three Tails, I've been working on some less lethal jutsu for my boil and lava release.

Boil release is difficult, since the main technique for it is releasing a corrosive mist that harms allies and enemies alike. I can make the mist harmless, but then it's harmless…So it doesn't really count as a ninja technique I can use in battle.

Which is why I've been practicing using it more creatively! Rather than from my mouth I've been practicing releasing the boil release from my hands and feet. That way, I can use the force it generates to propel myself around, either to avoid attacks or to speed up and move in more unconventional ways.

…It's super hard and I'm going to need a lot more time to get the hang of it…

But it's a good idea! So I'm happy…

Laval release is also difficult, since it's deadly by its very nature…

…I've been practicing using the lava release from my hands and feet like the boil release…

…But although useful…it doesn't really make the technique any less deadly…

"Saizo, are you ready?" Zabuza Sensei asks. He'd recovered from his injuries during the fight with Kakashi and we were gearing up for round two.

I guess I'll think of something later.

The roles for the fight were different this time.

"Saizo, you're in charge of watching Gato. Our intelligence suggests that he's been gathering several dozen amateur samurai and local thugs. My bet is that he'll wait until we're injured from fighting the Konoha ninja before attacking us" Zabuza Sensei instructs.

"If we already know what he's going to do, why do I need to watch him?"

"Because in order for this to work, we need to kill Gato in front of the civilians and the Konoha ninja. For that to happen Gato needs to be there in person and although he's very stupid, he might not be that stupid…"

I nod. Even Gato isn't that stupid. He does own a very successful multinational business after all.

"If it appears as if he isn't going to show up personally, then you need to give him a reason to. I'll leave the details up to you"

I nod.

"Then are you fighting Kakashi by yourself again? You got your ass kicked pretty hard last time" I smirk at Zabuza Sensei who narrows his eyes menacingly.

"He has one good trick, it won't work on me a second time…" Zabuza growls.

"Haku, you're with me. You'll be fighting the ninja brats that Saizo fought last time" He continues.

"Yes Sensei"

"Careful, that blonde one has some surprising tricks up his sleeve!" I say in a teasing manner. I know better than anyone what level Haku is at and Naruto shouldn't be able to lay a finger on her.

"Yes, he is quite interesting" Haku replied.

I felt my eye twitch but before I could say anything, Haku hurriedly explained.

"We met when I was gathering herbs and since I didn't have my mask on he didn't recognize me" She chuckled cutely.

I frown and clench my fists.

"He was training the tree walking technique, but he helped me pick herbs. He seemed nice!" Haku smiled.

At this point I didn't even look upset; I was just looking at Haku with a neutral expression. I nodded to her story silently and then I left to go take care of Gato.

…But when I see Naruto again, that bastard's getting a punch in the face! No one flirts with Haku except me! That dumb, blonde bastard!

…

As it turned out, Gato was stupider than we gave him credit. I was watching him leave with about a hundred armed thugs looking incredibly smug.

How the hell is the Gato Corporation so successful if Gato himself is such an idiot! Those were basically slightly big civilians with pointy sticks, surely he knows that even a hundred of them wouldn't be able to stand up to a jonin of any level?

Let alone an S rank Missing-nin…

…Whatever, if I tried to figure out how Gato is so stupid, I'd be here all day. It's time to join in on the fighting!

I dash off past Gato and his band of armed thugs, making sure to keep out of sight. My job is already done, Gato is on his way. Time to punch that Naruto kid in the face a few times before Gato arrives!

As I approach the bridge I see Haku's ice mirror jutsu as well as a thick layer of fog; which I can see through thanks to the Three Tails!

Surprisingly, Zabuza Sensei looks like he's on the winning end of things. Kakashi is sporting pretty nasty wounds on his hand and his chest. Sakura is behind Kakashi, guarding the bridge builder.

Which means Naruto and Sasuke should be in the ice mirror jutsu.

I turn towards the ice mirrors when I hear a shout.

"I WON'T FORGIVE YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!" It was a guttural and frenzied roar of rage which made even me feel scared for a second.

A large demonic chakra rises up from within the ice mirrors.

I hesitate for a brief second before rushing towards the mirrors…I've got a bad feeling…

From a distance I see Haku being shot straight through her own ice mirror. An awful cracking sound echoes over the bridge as the ice mirrors crumble and I see Haku's mask crumble into pieces, a line of blood dripping from her mouth and her eyes glazing over…

…I see Naruto covered in a cloak of sinister red chakra launching himself at her as she stands there motionlessly…

…before stopping, arm outstretched in a punching motion…

I see them exchange a few words before Naruto glances over his shoulder at the motionless form of Sasuke with several senbon sticking out of his neck.

"DAMN IT!" I hear Naruto yell as he throws a punch at Haku, knocking her down. She coughs up blood…

I realize that I've just been standing there staring while breathing heavily, my hands clenched and my chakra was going crazy. It was manifesting in a dark blue colour all around me and cascading wildly.

The chakra feels strange and I can feel it threatening to swallow me whole and engulf me.

With purpose and precision, I walk towards the forms of Naruto and Haku as they hold what appears to be a tense conversation.

I want to run over there immediately and punch that stupid blonde bastard's face into the dirt. But it's taking an active command over the raging dark blue chakra to stay in control.

I'm not sure what would happen if I just gave into my instincts and sprinted over there wildly…

But for now, at least while they're just talking I can move over to their position and maintain control.

I can't hear Haku at all, but I assume the whole damn village can hear Naruto with how loud he's yelling every other sentence.

"HE'S A BAD GUY WHO TAKES MONEY FROM A CRIMINAL, WHY FOR A GUY LIKE THAT?!"

"IS THAT LAVA MIDGET FREAK REALLY THAT IMPORTANT TO YOU?!"

…

I didn't think he could piss me off any more than he already had…

…I have to slow down a bit as I feel the dark blue chakra rise in strength…

Luckily I was close enough to hear Haku's response.

"Of course he is, he saved me…he gave me purpose again"

Haku gives a small smile.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

God, he's loud.

"I was born in a small snowy village in the country of Mist. I was happy…my parents were very kind people…but in the land of Kiri, where a civil war raged, people with blood like mine were hunted down…"

"WHAT?!"

"When my father discovered that my mother and I has one of these bloodline abilities, he killed her…and then tried to kill me…and before I realized what I had done…I had killed him…my own father…"

Even Naruto has the decency to stay silent after that admission.

I knew it was bad…but Haku…

"That's when I realized the most painful thing…I was unwanted. You said you wanted to become the best ninja in your village and have everyone acknowledge you. Now if someone appeared who acknowledged you from the bottom of their heart appeared…wouldn't that someone become the most important person to you?"

…

"Saizo accepted me…and invited me to come with him even though he knew about my bloodline…"

…

"I was so happy"

A tear runs down Haku's face as she stares into the sky, a genuine smile on her face…

…I really do love this girl…

"But now…" She continues, now staring at the ground, her hair obscuring her face from my view.

"I've failed him one too many times…Naruto please kill me..."

…

What was that?

* * *

 **Zabuza's POV**

Something's wrong.

First that demonic chakra from before and now the other sinister feeling chakra…

I cancelled my hidden mist jutsu in order to get a better look, but I would be idiotic to look away when facing a ninja like Kakashi. I was feeling antsy.

Kakashi's also frowning, he was likely thinking the same thing I was.

I need to wrap this up fast and get over there.

The second chakra was definitely the Three Tails…I've felt it before from Yagura.

That means that Saizo is over there and his seal has weakened…

Not only that, but something pissed him off…whether it's the blonde one or the moody one…they must have done something pretty bad in order to get Saizo so angry that the seal was partially undone…

Especially given how strong the seal those Akatsuki bastards put on him is. It would take a pretty large emotional turmoil for this to happen…

On top of that, the first chakra felt similarly demonic…

"Is one of your brats a Jinchuriki, Kakashi?"

He narrowed his eyes in response and whipped out a scroll.

"Summoning jutsu" He yells out, slamming his hands to the ground.

I see the bridge swell as several summons tunnel through the ground towards me.

I dash back as they charge out of the earth and slash at a few of them, exploding the ninja hounds into smoke.

I had taken out four of them, but that left four other ninja hounds who charged at me once more. I swiped again and took out two more, the other two actually managing to take a bite out of me; one chomping down on my right wrist and the other on my left shoulder.

"Your future is death Zabuza"

"My future is death? I'm sick of your bullshit Kakashi"

I use my left hand to stab the hound on my right wrist with a kunai, exploding it in to smoke.

Whilst I'm doing this, Kakashi begins to prepare a jutsu.

His launches into hand signs and his outstretched right hand begins to crackle with lightning.

I take this time to stab the hound on my left shoulder with another kunai. Damn, those bites have really limited my movement. I clench my hand and draw my sword to test my range and limb response.

"Tazuna, who you are trying to kill, is this country's 'courage' and the bridge he seeks to build is this country's 'hope'"

I smirk at him.

"Your ambition sacrifices many people and that's not what any shinobi should do!"

That's laughable.

"A bit hypocritical, eh Kakashi?"

His frown grows.

"You participated in the last great ninja war; you should be well aware what shinobi should and should not do"

"Surrender Zabuza…Your future is death…" He snarls.

I grin back and take a stance.

"Never"

* * *

 **Haku's POV**

"…Why are you hesitating? Hurry up and kill me…"

I could already feel the life gone from my limbs; I didn't have the will to fight back.

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND! IS THIS THE ONLY WAY?!"

I tried so hard to be of use to him, to be someone he can rely on, to be someone as important to him as he is to me…

But I'm just too weak, so useless…

"Yes…please fulfill your own dreams…"

He's done so much for me and I can't do anything for him…

At this point, he'd be better off if I wasn't even alive…

"…Sasuke also had a dream…If we'd met under different circumstances, we might have been friends…"

Naruto launches at me with a kunai.

I know this is selfish, Sasuke isn't actually dead, just in a near death state.

I'm basically using Naruto as a mechanism for suicide…

"Thank-you"

But I'm so useless…I…

…

At this point, a dark blue blur flies in out of nowhere, colliding with Naruto and sending him flying off into the distance, rebounding off of the ground violently as he lands near Sasuke.

My mouth hangs open as I look into his wonderful pink eyes, now lined with several spiraling cirles, staring directly into my own.

"Saizo…" I let slip…How much of that did he hear?

His face contorts in rage and he lets out a guttural, frenzied roar similar to Naruto's earlier.

"You've never failed me once! You idiot!" He yells at me and I can only stare back at him blankly…

I've never seen him so angry before…and that chakra…

It's forming something of a turtle shell on his back and his teeth have sharpened into fangs, similar to Zabuza Sensei's. A single tail of chakra swishes behind him and two horns of chakra have formed on his head.

"I don't want you dead!" His face contorts a bit more as his pink eyes begin to tear up.

"If you want to do something for me then live!" A tear rolling down his cheek.

"…I…" I begin to respond, my eyes swimming, unable to find the words…

…Before I see Naruto stand up, his chakra flaring up similarly to Saizo's though in a shade of blood red.

Naruto lets out an animalistic roar and launches himself back at Saizo at incredible speed.

Saizo matches him and they impact in the middle of the bridge, rebounding off of each other, leaving a small crater.

"YOU MIDGET BASTARD!" Naruto yells out.

"WE'RE THE SAME SIZE! YOU IDIOT!" Saizo yells back and they launch back at each other again.


End file.
